Happy Birthday, Joe!

One of my co-workers has been out of the office for 4 weeks as he's been healing from rotator cuff surgery. His birthday was on Thursday the 27th and since I knew he'd be back today, I made this cool cookie cake. Normally, I would make a big cookie on a pizza pan, but I thought I'd try something different. I baked this in a springform pan. It turned out pretty well. It was a little extra thick -- about 2 inches! I did the New York Yankees on it in white (since that's his favorite thing) and wrote in blue Happy Birthday Joe! He returned the bottom part of the pan to me, let's see, about 2 hours after I gave it! Must have been good! :)

A beautiful rose

This rose and the bush that it's on has a story. You see, there was a family that lived in the house we lived in (before us, of course!) who planted this bush. They gave it to their mother on Mother's Day. Now, it was one of the last Mother's Days that she was alive for and unfortunately she left 3 small children. Our neighbor who's lived here for 30+ years has hopes to one day give this rose bush back to the oldest daugher who is about 20 years old. The in-between times of this family and us there were many a resident that Jackie was afraid that the bush would not last. But, under our residence, it has grown. At the time of this picture (today!) there were 5 roses on it. Hopefully, the legacy will continue!

Sympathy, Birthday, & Thinking of You Cards

A co-worker had a death in her family and I made this card for her. The paper is navy blue & teal plaid. I put the star on with 3-d tape. The insde also had a couple mini stars in navy, teal, and light blue. It says, "May God grant you peace during your loss."

Our niece is having her 14th birthday on Friday. I used a diamond pattern to make 9 into a flower pattern on pink cardstock. Then, I wrote Happy Birthday to you all the way around it. Then, I added 14 in the middle. It's a little wild, but I think it turned out alright.

I again used the diamond pattern to make a 6-pointed star out of cream cardstock. Then I added 4 brown & pink paisley diamonds on top. I attached the star pattern with 3-d tape. On top I put a cream ribbon and a brown "d." The card is about 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches in size.

So much has been going on lately that I haven't been able to get things done like I would like to. But, here are three cards that I've made in the last couple weeks.

Sounds Game, Part 3

Ozzie, the Sounds mascot
Chris Narveson pitched 11 strikeouts and so we got a coupon for a free White Castle sandwich! This was the highest attended game this season -- over 9,000 in attendance. We ended up parking quite a ways away so we left before the fireworks started and just saw them as we were walking out.

We were so close to the 3rd base! In the 7th & 8th innings, the Sounds were on FIRE! This was the last Saturday home game for the season.

Another win for the Sounds! They were 1/2 a game behind Memphis so hopefully they can go back into first place again. They won 9-1!!!

Amazingly, this is the third Sounds game that we've been to this summer! We had traded in our tickets from the 4th and got these great seats right at the 3rd base line, 2nd row. For most of the game, we didn't even have someone in front of us! The ambiance was a little different this time. We should have known that something was different when the lady in front of us started singing the national anthem off-key into a plastic megaphone. She evidently has been to all the games and knows all the players and was quick to call out to them as they headed to the dugout & when they were up to the plate. Needless to say, it was entertaining to hear her shout "Keep your eyes on the ball!!!" to the guys when they came up to the plate. Go Nashville!!!

Fireworks

One of my best memories of fireworks comes from when we lived in South Carolina. We lived relatively near Fort Jackson and on the 4th they would do a big show. It included shooting cannons and a parade of sorts. The fireworks were fantastic! I remember that it was loud and crowded, but overall, it was a great experience.

Now, if you remember, we didn't really get to see fireworks on the 4th this year. It was raining so much that they were cancelled. So, when we went to the game on the 1st, you can better believe that I was looking forward to seeing some. I wasn't disappointed. It was a great show!

Here's just one of the pics... for some reason I am having a tough time getting them uploaded.

Meatballs & Birthday Wishes

Even though Barry's not a big fan of meatballs, I thought I'd give it a try for something different. My first batch had quite a few casualties, but batch number two worked out pretty well. Since I can't have tomato sauce, I just had mine with noodles and cheese. Barry had his as spaghetti & meatballs. Yum, yum! Six left to make for another day. A meatball sub sounds delicious! :0

Here's birthday greetings for a co-worker. The lighting wasn't so great, but you can see it okay. There's a cardboard letter b with a star & sequin on it, on top of a yellow striped star (with 3-d tape underneath). I used a total of 9 different papers! I tied pink organdy ribbon around the one square and used two birthday-ish stickers on two others. The top corner says, "it's time to celebrate!" Inside it says, "Happy Birthday!"

Me & Barry

We needed to take a pick to send to a wonderful family in Michigan so we took a couple in the backyard today. This one has the neighbor's tree in the background. I am just amazed at the quality of the picture compared to the old camera. How cool!

This family -- the Robinsons just had their fourth baby in June. They now have 3 girls and one boy - Sierra, Maci, Bryce and now baby Annie. Josh & Missy are great friends and we catch up with them every time we go. They've also visited us in Tennessee.

Hope they enjoy the gift we send and the warm wishes for Annie's arrival!

August Cards

I made this card for my sister and her husband as they celebrate their 10th anniversary on Friday. Wasn't this a neat idea that God gave me? I did the tree for like a family tree and then hung the names of their children off the branch. I think it turned out pretty well if I do say so myself! I used the font that I like for each of the names. Then I used string and that pop-up tape so that the names will stick out some.

This card is for Barry's brother-in-law, Keith. This has been a common themed card that I've done for birthdays and I'm pretty sure that I saw someone else who made the design. Basicaly, I just tore the paper to make candles and flames. I used a bit of string for each of the candle wicks and then added the make a wish portion. I put the pop up tape on the back of the wording so that it stands out a little.

Birthday Thanks

I started on my card-making for thank yous from my birthday. These cards are just 2"x3" (I found the envelopes in the dollar spot at Target and thought it would be a neat size) so I can't mail them, but they are a good size to give a little note for friends in person. All of these are for co-workers.
L to R (top to bottom): I made two with the same paper and similar design. This one I gave to Mary. Next is a birthday card for Emily. She took her birthday off and had a nice long weekend! The sentiment inside says, "make a wish." The candles are made from paper and there is some purple ribbon along the bottom. Then, we come to a card for Rick. Isn't it cool how the R is most prominent on the paper? I added some teal ribbon and knotted it in two places. The sentiment says, "words cannot express... my sincerest thanks." Then, the other purple one was for Laurie. I used those bubbles that sort of magnify what is written underneath it, purple ribbon, and a complimentary colored heart (same as for Mary's).

I still have a few more to get done and will work on them through the week. I love letting people know how much they mean to me!

The Sounds Game

The first pitch was a strike!
Here we are again... The game was delayed 30 minutes due to rain, but we dried out enough to enjoy the 9 innings.

With this new camera, look how much we could zoom in! Our seats were on the 3rd base line close to where the pitchers sat.

The Sounds won!!!!

We had tried to go a Nashville Sounds game back on July 4, but it rained so much that they called it after the 4th inning. Barry's friend from work was there and had been talking with Barry about going to a game so this was the first weekend that they were home and we were able to go. It's funny that they were playing the same team, the Albuquerque Isotopes. The Nashville Sounds are the first in their division.

We traded in our 4th tickets for a game in two weeks. Play ball!!!