Softball Krispy Treats

Here is our new invention. The yellow chocolate covered Krispy Treat. We made these for the girls that Phil coaches. Tomorrow is our team BBQ, and we decided to make them something really cool.

Phil made his own molds, but we're thinking it's easier to cut them out by hand. I then dipped them with yellow chocolate and used red icing for the lacing. Although I think next time I might try that red chocolate instead.

They turned out cute. I didn't have the right stuff to make the lacing right, but it was good practice. :)

I hope they like them.

Oh, and I'm on this sugar high now cause I ate all the leftover krispies in the pot! ROFL.

Back in business!

My friend Karan has helped me out big time! She offered to have my sewing machine fixed, and while I'm waiting for it to be fixed, she lent me a couple of hers. YAY! We spent today sewing at her home. I sewed a bunch of handles for her. I'm going to do more tomorrow. I got home today and just CRASHED!

I love spending time with her and her family. Her kids are so nice! Kayleigh and I talked a lot, she's grown up so much in the past few years. She's very cute, and talkative. We talked about tv shows, Webkinz, and cats. I love their cats too! And Megan has grown up so much too. She's really turned into a beautiful young lady. Karan, you're so lucky to have such great kids!

I'm really inspired to create new purses and reusable tote bags. We'll see how it all turns out. I had some really great inspiration from what I was able to see at the Gift show this weekend. Thanks to my cousin, Tina, for taking me with her again this year. I really do get inspired by what I see out there.

Hit a bit of a snag...

Well, my sewing days are on hold for right now. In the middle of sewing a strap, the sewing machine siezed up. Ok, I guess I should have opened up the top of the sewing machine to oil the sewing machine. But I didn't think about that. I've been oiling the bottom part. Sheesh.

But my sewing machine angel is going to help me to get my sewing machine fixed. So, I'll be back in business next week.

Thank goodness for Sewing Machine Angels!!

Sewing Tote Bags

I am helping my friend Karan sew some tote bags for her non-profit group. And it's been a real learning experience. I'm just learning how to sew things other than straight line. And although a tote bag is all straight lines, I'm learning a lot about stitches and hems.

But first, here's a picture of Oreo helping me out. I was sewing on the machine, not paying any attention to him. I turned my back, and found him making himself very comfortable on my pile of material I am to sew. LOL

Here is the top of the bag. I'm having fun learning how to stitch hems. I think this looks a whole lot better than my first try! LOL
I learned how to gusset the bottom of the bag. I'm so excited! It almost looks like someone else actually did that! LOL
Here's the handle not attached to the bag. I don't have a machine that can go through all the heavy layers of material to attach the handle, but am having fun with the handles!

Jolt Paintball older photos

So, in all my free spare time, I've been scanning photos. These are some from Phil's paintball photo album. And look, Phil has brown hair! LOL When I met Phil, he had brown hair. He keeps telling me that I gave him his grey hair. LOL NOT!And here's a pic of Al with 2 of his friends. Remember my earlier post where he's talking to Bella on the phone? Well, here he is in his younger days. LOL
And here's another one of Phil. :)
And Phil's holding one of his Paintball Relics! One day I went with him to the paintball shop, and they were looking at his paintball marker (ok, we say gun, but the correct term is marker) and they said, "OMG, this is like a paintball Relic!!" I almost fell over laughing. Paintball Relic?? OMG, that was too funny for words. And you know, that gun was only about 15 years old MAYBE??

Mothball Fleet

We passed by the Mothball Fleet this weekend, and of course I had to take a picture. LOL The mothball fleet is a group of ships that the Navy upkeeps in case they need to be called back to duty.

It's actually called the National Defense Reserve Fleet. The USS Iowa is actually out there as well. And when you pass by closer, you can actually see it, we didn't pass by that close to see her, if we do next time, I'll definitely take a picture!

Cats at my mom's house

I took these pictures yesterday of the cats at my parents house. OMG the tiny grey kitten looks like Velcro when she was a kitten.

And yes, these cats know me as well. The grey mom cat will run when she hears people, but if I say, "Hey Kitty" I swear the cat stops in its tracks and runs back cause she thinks I'm going to feed her table scraps. LOL And now, that one and another black cat will run up the stairs and meow at the top of their lungs for me to go out and feed them.

Yes, one more step to being the Crazy Cat Lady Down the Street. And what's worse is that's not even my street! LOL

My first purse

This is my first attempt at sewing a purse. It is an easy pattern. I just have to learn how to sew straight. Well, maybe not straight but consistant? LOL I know there are a bunch of mistakes on it, but it's fun knowing that I can actually sew something other than straight lines. :)

I want to try another one then maybe on to something else?? LOL

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

If you didn't know, Joss Whedon has released Part I of his internet movie: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Starring in the film are Neil Patrick Harris, Doogie to me. Nathan Fillion, Captain Mal Reynolds from Firefly/Serenity, and Felicia Day best known to me in The Guild series.

Now, I just LOVE Nathan Fillion. Loved him in Firefly, and love watching all the various shows and movies that he'll pop-up in from time to time. But I just LOVE him in this movie because he actually sings! Yes, you've read right, he sings!

And I didn't realize how good everyone does sing in the film. Had no clue that Neil PH could actually sing. And was pleasantly surprised to hear Felicia sing.

I don't want to ruin it for everyone, the beginning starts out a tad slow for me, yes, cause i want to get to the parts with Nathan in it, I admit it. LOL But it's really a fun movie.

Joss is releasing the movie in 3 parts between July 15th and July 20th. Part 2 will be released on the 17th, and part 3 on the 19th. Joss is letting us view this through the internet for free. But has the movie available for download on i-tunes. But then he will hopefully release a DVD so that he can actually pay the people who worked on the movie. They all volunteered their time and efforts. How cool is that??

So, if you can, check it out! It's really very funny.

And if you haven't already checked out The Guild, please check that out as well. It's scary cause I know people like that!! It's a really funny series, and I can't wait for The Guild 2 to come out!!

Al and Bella

This photo was taken a couple of years ago at Christmas time. Bella picked up a cellphone that was on the table and decided to call Al. Eventhough Al was sitting at the table, she had to call him. LOL And I just had to take a picture of them.

I was cleaning out my old computer and found it. It just cracks me up!

Fremont Flyers in Benicia

Today we had a tournament in Benicia for the Fremont Flyers. It's one of the Softball teams that Alex plays on that her dad Rusty coaches. Phil helps out coaching the catchers and pitchers. We've only been to two of the tournaments so far, and I know I'm having a good time watching the games.
It's so neat seeing how Alex has grown from a t-ball player to a fast pitch softball player. I love watching her play, and she actually got a home run hit today during one of the games! YAY!
If you've ever wondered what the city of Oakland looks like, here's a picture of Oakland from the side. We were passing through on our way to Benicia today.

Thanks Kay!

I'm back in business, thanks to Kay! I googled how to adjust the tension, and it seems to be working. :) Will post more when I make more! YAY!

American Idols Tour

Debi, Joanne, and I went to see the American Idols tonight, and it was a really good show. One thing I did miss was the group singing though. They had the group sing twice, and the rest of the time the Idols sang 3 songs solo.

I was surprised with Chikezie. I wasn't a big fan of his on the show, but he impressed me at the concert. He has a lot of energy, and has a great live singing voice. I didn't know the songs he sang, but I enjoyed them!

Loved Ramiele. She didn't have the greatest voice tonight, but she has lots of spunk and energy. I loved that she sang "I want you back" by Michael Jackson. :) In an earlier review, they said she looked scared, but I think she is enjoying the tour now and really looked comfortable.

I loved Michael Johns. And am still bummed that he didn't go further in the competition. He has good stage presence. I think much better than David Cook, really. I loved his song choices tonight. Mainly because I knew the songs. LOL He relates to the crowd, and it was fun listening to him talk between songs too.

I'm still not a big fan of Kristy Lee. She was ok, she has a good voice. And loved that she sang "God bless the USA." She was trying to be all sexy, and it didn't work for me dawg.

Carly Smithson was AMAZING. I loved her performances. She can sing and really can perform. Eventhough I didn't know the first song she sang, she belted it out and performed it like an old pro. LOVED the Heart song she sang. She can almost belt it out like Ann Wilson.

Brooke White was one of my favorites on the show. She just has this wonderful sincerity. Loved all the songs she performed tonight. I think she did really well. Not one of the top performances tonight, but I really did like her.

Ok, I LOVED Jason Castro. I know a lot of people think he's just ok. But I thought he did so well tonight. He picked songs that showcase his voice. LOVED the IZ version of "Over the Rainbow". And he sang another song he sang on the show too. He knows what his strong points are, and plays to them. It was just awesome.

And I think Syesha kicked butt tonight! She has such a strong voice, and has grown so much in the past year with her performances. She's not the shy girl that showed up to the Idol auditions. She knows she can sing, and chooses the right kind of songs to showcase her beautiful voice. I can't wait till she has a CD out! :)

David Archuleta was awesome! I think he did so well tonight. And I really think he should have won American Idol. I mean I love David Cook, but Archie blew him out of the water. He has a long career going for him. He's another one who knows what songs to sing and what not to sing. He has such a strong voice, he just needs to learn how to speak clearly between songs. I could barely understand what he was saying when he was talking to the audience. But that will definitely come in time. Loved that he played the piano on his first song, "Let it Be". I wished he would have sang "Imagine" though. That was my favorite of the two.

So, now we get to David Cook. He was one of my favorites during the show, but I think he needs to work more on his stage presence. Something just didn't click with him tonight. I don't know if he needs more time on the road to be more comfortable, or not. But I just didn't get into his song set as I did with the other Idols. He's good, but I think he needed to choose a few different songs that would appeal to the audience. I liked the songs he sang, but if you don't like that style of music, you wouldn't like it as much.

I can't wait to hear how the rest of the tour goes for them. It was a blast, and they did a lot of really great work!!

So I figured out...

So, after a bunch of experimentation yesterday, I realized that one of my problems is that I'm using 50 year old thread. Yep, at least 50-years-0ld. LOL My aunt that passed on had a bunch of thread in her sewing kit, and I inherited her sewing kit. So I thought I'd use it...NOT. LOL That stuff snaps really quick.

So, new thread, and no problems. LOL

Then I also realized that the thread had slipped off of one of the things you thread it through. Kay says I should adjust the tension. Ok, what is that?? I think it's the dial thingy on the front??

Boy, I think I'd better find an owners manual! LOL

So, I'm back in business. I made a few more, and hopefully will get a few more done tomorrow night. YAY!

Army Wives

I just started watching Army Wives this year. And I love it! I always forgot what day and time it was on last year, and Sunday nights were for Big Love and Rome before. Now that they're not on, I can watch other things. Well, and I watched Desperate Housewives for like a season only because Nathan Fillion was on that season.

I saw the commercials for it in the mornings while I was watching Frasier reruns and Will and Grace reruns. And I wanted to know what happened at the bar at the end of season one, darn it! And luckily I caught the last two shows of that season. Now I'm hooked.

I love how strong these women are on the show. Their husbands go off to wherever the army sends them, and they have to take care of the family while their husbands are gone. And I love how they all band together in their time of need. Each of them are so very different from each other. And I love how they have an Army Husband in the mix too. That is pretty cool.

I loved tonight's show. They found the body of an MIA soldier from the Vietnam War. And they were going to make sure that he had friends and family there at his service. It touched my heart when they all showed up to make sure he would not be buried without anyone at his service.

Another scene I loved was when a plane full of troops were coming home, and two of them didn't have any family greeting them when the airplane arrived. And Claudia Joy and Michael walked over to them to welcome them back home. I don't know if he's supposed to do that anyway, but that was so cool!

Anyway, if you haven't already watched it, you should watch it! I love this show WAY more than the Desperate Housewives show. I think Nathan ought to go on this show instead!!

Webkinz Sleeping Bags

I've been making sleeping bags for my Webkinz. They came out not too shabby. I've got so much fabric, it's good that I can finally do something with them! It's fairly easy, I just have to get used to the sewing machine. It does some things that I'm not too sure why it's happening. I know I'm having bobbin issues. LOL And then the thread breaks while I'm sewing cause it gets stuck. Sigh.

But I'm having fun. I want to make some for the kids that I know have webkinz. They'll have so much fun with them!

New Addition to the Zoo

So, here's our new addition to our zoo. I'm calling it Pepe. I think it was a boy, but who the heck knows. All I know is that I'm not gonna get too close to it to figure it out. LOL

It runs away whenever it sees us for too long, which is good. I don't want it to get to used to us. I think it's a pretty big skunk. It's about the size of Oreo, with a bushier tail. It's coat is really nice. You would think that being out in the wild, the skunk's coat would be all matted and dirty. But this one was fairly clean. Like someone was taking a comb to its coat and cleaning it.

And they have pretty long claws, another reason not to get too close to the skunk. I mean if the stink factor wasn't enough, claws are a second reason.

It's been back a few times this week so far, so we'll see how long it stays in the neighborhood.

Fourth of July

This year we broke from tradition. We spent this Fourth of July with some of Jackie's co-workers. They invited us to their yard for a bbq and fun!
I was happy with how these pictures came out. I read a bit on how you're supposed to take photos of fireworks. And you're supposed to bring a tripod and have the shutter stay open for a longer period of time. Ok, so I didn't have a tripod. But I think that these pictures came out pretty well.
The people are kinda fuzzy cause you can't get them to pose when you're taking long exposure photos of fireworks. Well, you can but it would be a bit funny to say, "HEY! Don't Move!" LOL
Sadie and Nichole were having way too much fun with each other!
And Jordana was enjoying driving everyone around in the golf cart thing. She took us out on a pretty fun ride! LOL Can't wait till she learns how to drive. ;)

Happy Fourth of July!

I hope that everyone has a great day today! Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. One reason was because it was the one holiday that I could really enjoy before, during, and after. No work, no store, no customers, and no long hours.

But really, it's a day to remember our independence. It's a day to remember how hard our forefathers fought to declare our independence. And it's a day to remember all the soldiers of all the wars who have fought to maintain that independence.

For without them, we would not have the freedoms that we enjoy today.

So have a Happy Independence Day! And enjoy your time with your family and friends today!

Oreo's Chair

This is Oreo's pink chair. We got these chairs from my aunt's house. And Oreo has claimed this one for his own chair. It's located next to the computer desk, where I'm pretty much always located. One day we put one of my fleece blankets on it, and he climbed right on top of it. He doesn't even sleep with Phil as much anymore.

It's so funny, my dad had no idea that it was the cat's chair, so he decided he needed to sit on the chair. Then was wondering why the cat kept walking around and around the chair giving him the stink eye. LOL

One thing I'm always wondering about cats is how do they feel the different textures through their fur? They don't like to sleep on fake fur blankets or even crocheted or knitted blankets. They LOVE polar fleece. I know it's soft, but how do they feel the softness through their fur? I swear they always pick the flannel sheets to sleep on, not the regular ones. Weird.

Banana Upside Down Cake

In a magazine I saw a recipe for Banana Coconut upside down cake. And since we're not big fans of coconut here, I just did the bananas. I called up Phil's sister to see how she makes her cake, and off I went.

It actually looks better than it did in the magazine, too bad I don't eat bananas. LOL

Black Book

Last night Phil and I caught this movie on one of the movie channels. We actually caught it after it had started, but saw that it was about WW2, so we decided to watch it. Turns out that it was about the Dutch underground during WW2.

It was a really good movie. It was in German with subtitles. And it was based on true events. It was based on a German Jewish woman named Rachel Stein. She sees her family murdered as they are trying to leave Holland for liberated territories. She ends up joining the Dutch resistance.

The movie has some great twists and turns. One of the characters early in the movie tells her to be careful, and not to be so trusting in everyone. And they weren't kidding. Just when you think you can trust someone, they turn out to be working with the Germans.

If you like movies based on historical events, you'll really like this one.

Medieval Room

Since I haven't taken any new pictures, I thought I'd share my Medieval room on my webkinz account. I just got the pink dragon, and of course she's one of my favorite pets. I just had to get a dragon webkinz, cause that's me, a dragon. LOL

Hopefully Arte will have the Medieval chairs in the Curio shop soon, cause I have the table, no chairs. LOL

Kung Fu Panda

I love Po! We went to see Kung Fu Panda today, and I loved it. The story was very cute. I love that Po worked in a Noodle house. I love the fact that Po is a chubby panda who can save the town. It gives the kids a little self-esteem. That you don't have to be the tigress, monkey, viper, crane, or mantis to be the hero. If you work hard and believe in yourself, you can do anything.

It's a good message for the kids today.

There was so much in this movie to love. Love Jack Black as Po! He is so funny! Scadush! LOL I can't believe that Jackie Chan only had maybe 3 lines in the whole movie! LOL He was the Monkey. Angelina Jolie was the Tigress. Dustin Hoffman is the red panda. And Lucy Liu is the viper.

It's neat that they can get a little bit of everyone's character into the animation. The one rhino was Michael Clarke Duncan, and you just knew by the characteristics of the rhino, and it's facial movements that it was him! LOL

On the one site that I'm on, Gaiaonline, they have had the Kung Fu Panda Quests for a month or two. And I've been dying to see the movie cause the quests are so fun to do. Plus seeing the trailers in the Gaia Cinemas helped a lot too.

I don't want to say anymore to ruin it for anyone. All I can say is, if you haven't seen it already, and you love animation, this is a good one to see.

BBQ Peaches

One of things that we look forward to in summer time is BBQ peaches. We were watching Food Network one night, and saw them BBQing the peaches. So we decided to try it, and OMG, they've been a big hit!
This is a peach after it's been on the grill. As soon as it comes off the grill, sprinkle them with a bit of sugar. And it seems like it caramelizes.
Yummy in Ashley's tummy! LOL It's one of the things the softball team looks forward to every year. When Phil goes back to practice, everyone reminds him how they love BBQ peaches!

Sex and the City

I went to see the Sex and the City Movie today. Ashley wanted to go, so we went. And OMG, it was the best movie! If you loved the series, you'll love the movie. I loved it so much, I am definitely going again to see it with my girlfriends!

I am a big fan of the TV show. It was the one thing I looked forward to watching every Sunday night when it was on HBO. It was great watching their lives unfold on the little screen, seeing them all go through their dating lives, professional lives, and their friendships together.

And watching the movie was like being with old friends. You haven't seen each other for a long time, but you just pick up where you left off. I loved seeing Jennifer Hudson in the movie. She was great! And of course I just LOVE Chris Noth. He was always my favorite of Carrie's beaus. I love Mario Cantone. He's one of those who you'd want to have as your friend! And of course, seeing the girls!

I won't give away anything, cause I know some of you probably haven't seen it yet. It is definitely a movie you need to see with your girlfriends!!

Cool find at a Japanese store

While in the Japanese store today, I found these great containers for ATC's! They are for your Trading Card Collection, and so I'm thinking...ATCs!!

They come two to a package, and were very reasonable! I'll have to get a few more cause I filled up the two I have already. It was the last package at the store, so I'll keep checking back. I'll have to figure out how to decorate them now.

My Aunt

Yesterday my aunt turned 84! I can't believe that she's 84. We were talking about how when she was young, she thought that when she turned 60 she wouldn't be getting around much anymore, and here she is in her 80's!

She has lived in San Francisco for much of her life. I can always remember visiting her in San Francisco, and seeing her at the different Cherry Blossom Festivals. She is so independant, and always told me to look for a good job with a good company so that you have a future for yourself. It's always fun to go to visit her because you hear so much about their life in Hawaii and what it was like to grow up on the Sugar Cane Plantation. I really need to start writing about their stories!

We went to Todai for her birthday. I hadn't been there in such a long time. It was better than the one we normally go to, Hokkaido. What I thought was neat about this restaurant is that they cook a lot of their meat on long skewers, then come to your table to see if you want anything off the skewers. I have never seen that before.

Then we went to her home, and for the first time, she showed me things in her apartment. Like different pieces of art in frames, she actually took scarves with cool japanese prints, and put them into frames. She also had a few frames of japanese paper art. Someone created neat scenes with washi paper for her. And of course I loved seeing the paintings my other aunt has done. My Aunty Dorothy used to live in Japan for awhile when she was in the military. And she did some really beautiful paintings of some of the places in Japan. I'll have to take pictures of them the next time I go to visit.

It made me realize how lucky I am to have such creative people in my life.

Still working on Las Vegas Books

I'm still working on the Las Vegas Books. Not that it's all that hard to work on, but I've been doing things in between. I started reading Mr. Darcy's daughters. It's pretty good so far. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth have left to Constantinople. They have 5 daughters and two sons, the daughters are visiting their cousins in London.

The premise sounds really good. I'm just getting into it, so we'll see if I really like it or not. A good indication is that I can't put it down for long.

I'm going to teach a friend to bead tomorrow, and visit with my parents and see one of my aunts in SF. That should be really fun!

Hopefully I'll start my etsy store soon. I have to get some things made first, then I'll be there making stuff. I have to figure out something really fun and unusual to sell. We'll see how far we get.

Hope you all are having a good night, and have a fun weekend!

Sadie's in the Modesto Bee Newspaper

They did an article on Sadie in the Modesto Bee Newspaper about Nashville Star tonight:


http://www. modbee. com/local/story/322882. html

How cool is that??

Sadie on Nashville Star...

Well, we hope she'll be on Nashville Star. She auditioned in April and made it all the way to the top 45! We saw her on one of the Nashville Star commercials, Jewel said she was singing out her nose. LOL So, we are hoping since she was on the commercial, that she'll be on the show.

It's on at 9 on NBC, I think for 2 hours. That's so cool!!

Sadie and her Guitar

I think Sadie enjoyed her Krispy Treat Guitar! LOL

Sadie's 21st Birthday

So, Sadie has the bright idea of having a cake eating contest for her birthday. And she thought what a great idea to have everyone blindfolded with their hands tied behind her back. She tried to recruit everyone to play this game, but many of us have been around too long to know what was going to happen next.
If you think you're going to have a cake eating contest with Victor and Al around you're totally WRONG! When they said "GO" Al picks up his and Victor's cake....
And smushes it right into the girl's faces. They really thought they were going to be part of a simple cake eating contest...NOT. Of course the lovely cake I made was totally used for the fight. And notice in the background, Phil and Diane are walking away from the fight, and Philip is pretty much enjoying every minute of it!
This is what the girls looked like after the fight, before the turkey grease was dumped on them from on top of the roof. Yes, you read right, from on top of the roof. The girls thought they would actually go on the roof with the hose to attack the guys from above...
The guys thought of it first, with turkey frying oil.
But if you don't throw the oil, you don't have to clean it up. Although the girls got beat, they had justice in the fact that the boys had to clean up the backyard. LOL

Just like the old days of dinner with the Louisianas. Do I have stories I could tell you!

All in a days work at the Louisiana-Brown house. LOL Kristen, I bet you are SO glad that you missed this dinner!!

Sadie's Cake

So, after many many tries, here is Sadie's cake! LOL Devil's food cake with Whipped cream. I love whipped cream and not frosting cakes.

But in the middle layers, I mixed mini marshmallows in with the whipped cream. That made the layers taller. But it helped fill in some of the layers too. :)

Then I shaved some Nestle's Bliss dark chocolate and put more marshmallows on the top. It looks so YUMMY!!! I hope I get a piece!