Happy Birthday Son

So my youngest was born January 24, 1997.  Can't believe we are here celebrating his 17th birthday.  Life is flying by and we can't stop it or even slow it down.
 
It was pretty awesome to be able to have a party at a local archery range.  I was so proud of myself for thinking up such an "out-of-the-box" idea.  We always want to try and do special things for our children, especially on their birthday, but my son is so low key and never really asks for anything.  What was I going to do to make this special?  He loves to celebrate at "Cheeseburger In Paradise" but we have done that many times.  So I pick up the phone and ask the question.  You know what they say, "It is always no if you don't ask".  How true.  So to my great pleasure, they agreed to let us have a party at the range and it was a very nice party.

Isn't this a beautiful cake?!  I thought the target idea would be great since we were at the target range.  Cake was made by "A Piece of Cake" in Greenwood.  My son picked cherry-chip for the flavor.  So delicious and served with vanilla bean icecream.  The local Chicago's Pizza delivered for us which allowed the guys to continue with their shooting.  This saved some time. 

Seventeen.  As I said, can't believe it.  Where does the time go. This was such a great idea.  Getting a smile is hard to capture but there it is.  I felt like I had hit the target :) 









 

... and what are the chances of finding a numbered 17 birthday card?  But, I did.  My plans just kept getting better.  I couldn't believe how everything came together and worked out so well.

I thought this gift was a great idea since we knew he was taking Christmas & birthday money to buy and Xbox.  We were going to be getting him the Call of Duty Ghost game and that is what this T is.  He was really happy with this gift.  We don't get much reaction usually, but we knew we had done well.

To add a little to the theme, we were permitted to put balloons at the end of the range for targets.  I thought that was a little more fun, especially for a birthday, than just boring flat targets.

And what is any celebration without throwing in a little Greenbay Packer?  This fantastic rug was a gift from his sister.  It is really plush and fits well in his room.








Well, this is definitely a party to remember.  Not only were we very pleased but Honeycreek Tackle was very thankful for the idea.  I think they now have a whole new way to promote their services.

Pedi Paws

 

Pedi Paws is a terrific product for trimming your dogs nails. We have a Scottie dog and his nails are black.  Very hard to see the vain when trimming.  I've had professionals nip this vain because they are just so difficult to see.  So, you can only imagine how hard it is for me the nonprofessional.  Sadly, that is just what had happened.  I had let his nails get to long when I realized how much he was chewing on them.  Oddly, he had one nail that was starting to turn because of his chewing on it.  Sadly, when I "clipped" his nails I too caught one of the vains.  I didn't think it was ever going to stop bleeding.  This is really annoying since I have Pedi Paws and I should have just used them; but, because the nails were extremely long, I decided to clip them first and then use the Pedi Paws.  This would speed up the process.

 

 



 

 

 

Now when I say speed up the process that is only because we had let them get way to long.  So when you think of sanding the nail down, obviously it is going to take a little more time since you have 4of them.  Still well worth the time!

 

 

So here is Baylee getting her nails trimmed.  Scottie is bandaged at the moment and has his boot on to add a little pressure to get the bleeding stopped.  I can't believe how much he bled...  Baylee also has a few nails that are dark.  Unlike Scottie's which is all black.

 

 

Here I'm doing the front paws.

 

 

Here I'm doing the back paws.

Baylee doesn't seem to enjoy this process as much as Scottie does.  He just lays back, once we get going, and takes it in.  I think he enjoys the attention.  But, this dog also gets groomed and he just struts his stuff when he comes out of the groomers. 

With Baylee being a mutt, she really doesn't require grooming.  However, we do occasionally clip hair around her eyes.  She has very wiry hair since she has terrier in her.

Here are both of them.  Wore out after all the pampering!

 

Target Practice

Do you remember the new bow my son received for Christmas?  Here is the target after a little practice with his new bow and arrows.  This bow's draw weight makes this a little harder for him.  His arms were pretty sore when we left due to the extra pounds on the bow.  But, what is more impressive is the grouping of arrows.  

 

 

 

 

 

I took one picture without the arrows so the holes could be seen better on the target.  I think he did pretty well.

 

 

A Sewing Project

So, with all the extra time on my hands due to the weather, I decided my daughter and I could work on something together. I really wanted to have these done for her as a Christmas gift but never got to them.  I'm really glad I didn't.  It gave us this time together. 

 

 

Aren't these pretty?  My daughter's name means butterfly.  I really like the orange on the main fabric and the butterfly's are smaller.  Then the accent fabric that separates the body from the top is tiny flowers with then the larger butterflies at the opening.  Before serging, she put stitching at the base of the accent fabric to help the fabric lay flat and also gives a finished look.  I then serged the pillowcase.  This was a quick project but gave us a little something to do.  This weather has been so crazy.  We were suppose to be back to school on Monday.  That was three days ago.  Tomorrow we return but on a 2 hour delay.  It's been almost 3 weeks that we have been out of school.  It will be nice getting back into the swing of things.

What to do when snow bound? Make dog boots!

Well, I found a couple of things to do.  It made me really sad when my dogs went outside to do their business in the frigid cold, and with temperatures below zero and all the snow and ice, it was hurting their paws.  Fortunately, with the internet and information easily made available, I found a YouTube video that provided instructions on making dog boots.

So, here they are.  Baylee and Scottie in their new little booties.  What a difference this made during their last potty break last night and this morning.  I had some left over fleece for the boot and some leather for the sole part.  The leather keeps the fleece dry and the fleece basically supports the leather. 

Scottie ran around in his new boots for about half hour before he tried them outside.  He did fine and seemed to enjoy that his paws were protected.  Baylee didn't like them on her paws but did do better outside when she realized her paws weren't going to hurt like they had earlier.  It was her response that really concerned me and got me on the hunt on what I could do to help.  She was crying/wining when she came in.  I had never seen her act like this and it worried me.

You can see how thrilled Baylee is in her coat and boots.  Stylish?  Maybe not, but serves the purpose superbly. 

NOTE:  I had to appreciate the lady that gave the instructions on the boots.  She is from Minnesota.  Should you like to try this or have a pet to protect, here is her webpage:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=99rvpp4dlPw

Happy New Year

As we sit here and more snow is falling, I wanted to post a few pictures of New Year's Eve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Snow!!!

So here we are January 2, 2014.  It is unbelievable how time is moving at warp speed.  I couldn't believe what I woke up to this morning.  What a way to start the new year.

This is a beautiful weeping willow tree in our back yard.  It is just gorgeous with the snow on it.  When it storms I love this tree.  It can also look creepy blowing in the wind, especially at Halloween.

This little bird is getting some suet we left out for the winter feathered friends that hang around.  You can see how much snow fell from the top of the feeder.