Reusable Baggies!!

So, this is my 300th post, and I thought I was going to come up with something creative (kind of like I thought I would do for my 200th post, but never did). So, instead you get photos of the latest sandwich baggies I've been making since we returned home! To see more photos or order, please got to my etsy site.

Surviving Brown's Clearing!

As most of you probably know now, it has become an annual tradition to hold a family reunion turned survivor game every year at my parent's cabin in Michigan. This year was fun as most of the little babies (and just prego bellies) from last year are walking and showing their own personalities.
Eli who turned 1 in January...

Izzy who turned 1 in March...

Lizzy who turned 1 in May...

And, Lucy who will be 1 in September...

Here are some of the other "older kids" who were there. I love how excited they get to see who is on who's team!


Ryan competing against Uncle Chuck at ladder golf...

Me showing off my fantastic horse shoe form (unfortunately it did not lead to fantastic scoring)...

It was really nice to get to spend a week with my family...





Thanks for putting on the games dad!

Etsy site correction

Sorry for those of you that tried going to my etsy site, but the link didn't work. Here you go: Little House Creations. (If the link doesn't work this time, it's www.littlehousecreations.com). Hope you're having a great weekend...we are on our way home to AZ!

Green Style Craftin'...

I got a big gift upon my visit to Michigan...a serger! For those of you who might not know what serger is, Ryan's layman terms say it well, "it's a sewing machine on steroids". So, with that, some crafting has taken place, and I'm gearing up to sell some of my craftings on my etsy site. Please check back frequently for added items.

Re-usable sandwich bags...




Re-usable snack bags...


All-In-One Cloth Diapers (my pattern for this is not perfected yet, if you have made them and have any tips, please pass them along!:)

Ryanhood in LA

Hello!

Ryanhood is going to be playing at the House of Blues in West Hollywood on August 5th at 8:45pm. AND, I can get FREE tickets to it for anyone who is interested in going! Just leave me a comment if you (or someone you know) would like tickets (be sure to write your name if you leave the comment anonymously)!

Have a great day!

Loving Michigan!

We of course had to make a stop at Lake Michigan in South Haven, hopefully another stop will happen yet in our time here. I think we were the only people in long pants. It was not quite 70 degrees air temp, and the lake was full of swimmmers. But, I have to say this IS something I love about Michigan...I love that Michiganders take full advantage of being outdoors as much as they can.

Cherry Picking! Last day of the season, so we just barely made it. 18 pounds of cherries to eat now... :)



I don't know that this next part should fall under "Loving Michigan", because truly I don't love four-wheeling...it actually scares me. BUT, I do love spending time with my nieces and nephew. Here's Lydia taking me for a spin (quite literally, she's into going very fast and taking tight corners so we slide a little...ahh!)

Ryan promised to go slower...not true...

Not sure what is in store for today, but I'm sure it will be fun!

Baptism!

We flew to Michigan earlier than planned this summer so that we could attend the baptism of our new godson, Micah William! He's a precious little bundle!


Here are Micah's parents with my other cousins daughter, Lucy...another precious little bundle!


I think Lucy and I were both meant for a different time period...one that involved horses and wagons, harvesting fields, and Michael Landon. :)

More Micah...


He's the recipient of my first attempt at applique!

Recycled sewing

I was given this shirt as a hand-me-down...

...and, it just never felt like "me".

Then I thought of my newest niece, Elizabeth, and decided it was really intended for her...in skirt form...


I recently learned about pillowcase dresses and thought it sounded like a fabulous idea. One trip to the thrift store, and 50 cents later...this dress/shirt came to be...I hope Lizzy is into being my recycled goods recipient. :)

"I ought to be in pictures..."

Not sure if anyone else knows that old song that I used as the title. My neighbor when I was 5 did a dance recital piece to that song, and it has been stuck in my head ever since then. :)

Yesterday Ryanhood was asked to be in a photo shoot to model a San Francisco based fashion designer's clothing. Her creations are amazing!!...It's all sustainable clothing (a.k.a. old clothes made into new funky looking clothes). I was hoping that she also made woman's clothing, but I guess I will have to rely on my own sewing machine to create such fashions for women.

So although the Ellen Show hasn't happened (yet?!) Rachel did find us through Ellen's twitter and has since offered to sponsor us by supplying Ryanhood with unique ties to wear at shows.

The photos I have are definitely not the professional photos...but just to give you a flavor of our day...

First, meet Freak Show, whose chew toy is a bicycle tire...


Fashion Designer, Rachel:


Ryan practicing the first of many suave poses...


Making the shirt fit perfect!


Relaxing...


Check out the ties...I will have to take a close up photo of them another time because they are sweet!

Ravioli!!

Two good friends of ours, Analisa and Natalie, have an annual Ravioli Party in San Francisco. This started 4 years ago when they were living together in this, oh so wonderful city, and has continued even though Natalie now lives in Chicago. So, when we (by we I mean Ryanhood) sent out an email saying we were going to be doing house concerts, I immediately got a call from Analisa saying she wanted to host one in conjunction with this year's ravioli party!

The fun began in the kitchen after Natalie arrived and they were able to school me on how to make ravioli from scratch. A long process (perhaps because the total to be made was 450 ravioli..not sure if this is the plural form, I think it is if you change the "i" at the end of the word to be a long "i" sound). :)

Making the dough...


Rolling it out...


Inserting filling... (pictured is meat filling, there was also a spinach filling and a cheese filling)


Fold over the dough and cut out using the "pasta bike"...


Meanwhile, smell yummy cookies as they come out of the oven (and eat many samples of dough before they go in the oven)...


And, listen to beautiful music being created (new songs in progress!)...


Finish just before sunrise...


I wish I had photos of the party where we got to consume the delicious ravioli and listen to Ryanhood in a packed living room...but my camera was hidden away and I didn't get to take any photos. It was a wonderful wonderful evening (and weekend) indeed!

Natalie is not presently here for me to get a quote from her, but if she were, I'm sure it would be, "It is soo worth the commute from Chicago for this party!".

Johno goes to Tucson (continued)

It was really great having Johno visit us in Tucson. It gave us a great reason to slow our pace of life down and just enjoy where we live.

We drove up to Mt. Lemmon for a picnic. We passed many pull-offs before we decided on "the one" to hike up and eat our lunch. And, we just so happened to choose "the one" that had been totally destroyed by the fire without a view in sight.


So, we made many more stops on the way down...






Sonoran Hot Dogs at El Guero Canelo, a must when in Tucson!


Coffee and ice cream down by the University...


Breakfast at Little Poca Cosa with the G's!


We drove from Tucson to L.A. yesterday so Johno could meet back up with his sister.


Today we'll continue up the coast to San Francisco to meet up with our friends Analisa and Natalie where the tour will begin!