… LETS GO RACIN’ BOYS!!!

And the grand daddy day of my brothers visit was Sunday… a day at the races! For those of you who aren’t fans, I’m talking Nascar. For Christmas, my parents got all of us tickets to the Michigan International Speedway for the Nascar race (on Father’s Day). All I can say is it was so much fun! I’m not exactly sure when we all became Nascar fans but it happened and we can’t go back. Maybe it was all those Sunday’s my dad would have the race on TV in the “background” and we all just got so used to it and then actually started watching it and then found ourselves cheering on certain drivers, etc, etc, etc.

It was an all day adventure (without kids might I add… beautiful). We get to MIS and pop the trunk for some serious tailgating… ahhh the racing crowd… how fun. It was a beautiful day… rain clouds threatened but stayed away until after the race… how nice. The roar of the engines was thrilling and LOUD!!! (good thing we had ear plugs). Not many crashes, just some spin outs but the end was exciting. It was a Green, White, Checkered (GWC) finish. During caution prior to the GWC, Dale E Jr. is on empty trying to conserve fuel by turning off his engine and coasting and restarting it… he’s in the lead and as they start back up, on the last lap another spin out by someone and they finish in caution and just as he crosses the finish he runs out of gas and has to be pushed to Victory Lane… I was bummed cuz he couldn’t even do a burn out… oh well, it was exciting. (I probably didn’t explain that at all right or it probably didn’t even make sense but it was a cool finish).

Ok, here’s some pics from our “day at the races”

Dad’s guy, Jeff Gordon

The fam… sorry I cut you off Mom!

I think Jr & Gordon are in this picture

The winning moment

Categories: Family, Vacation
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After visiting Sauder Village, we spent the next couple days playing outside in the pool and sprinkler, going out to get ice cream, taking the kids to Monkey Jump, having an “adult” dinner with steak on the grill, going to watch the Toledo Mud Hens downtown (which included fireworks) and then on Saturday we went to my 2nd cousins graduation party! Whew, what a week. Oh and one night we had a low country boil, which is a southern dish (I think). Shrimp, corn on the cob, sausage, potatoes, onions, etc. all thrown in a big pot of boiling water & beer… YUM!!!

Noah and Ethan playing at a pond at our hotel in Sauder Village… little mischievous boys

What a crew… Noah, clipping a clothes pin to his lip and Ethan eating his sandal

They LOVED Monkey Jump!!

Rain will NEVER keep the Smith family from a game!! On our way to the Mud Hens… but it stopped in time for the game.

The best is yet to come….

Categories: Family, Vacation
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A few weeks ago my brother and his family drove to Ohio for their semi-annual visit. As usual our days were packed with fun-filled activities for the kiddos that left us all begging for more sleep. Despite the exhaustive days running after 4 toddlers, we all had a blast together and enjoyed our visit tremendously!
Mom has become so organized in preparation for our visit together and this year we all received (in advance) a printed itinerary of each day of the week. Believe it or not, we pretty much followed it to a “T”.
To start off the week we spent a night over in Archbold, Ohio to visit the Historical Sauder Village. The kids (and adults) really had a fun time “going back in time”, riding the choo choo train, visiting to the first school house and tons more.

Ryleigh Mae … oh, so cute!

The babies (for now)

We visited the Little Pioneer Village that was complete with a log cabin (kid sized) with all kinds of kid sized home toys… they had a blast cutting food for the “stew” and ironing clothes. It was a kids (and parents) dream!

Ethan, so serious ironing his clothes!

All Aboard!

So excited!

Cousins

So I’m just realizing I’m going to have to break our week into a number of posts so… stay tuned for more family pictures to come!

Categories: Family, Vacation
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Here’s a few sewing projects I’ve been working on…

Look at all this fun fabric I get to play with!

Tote / Diaper Bag:

Inside:

Swing Bag:

Inside:

Shoulder Bag:

And my first piece of clothing… a smock for my niece Ryleigh:

Isn’t she a doll!

Stay tuned for more to come! I’m just getting started. And if you want a bag, I’d LOVE to make one for you, just leave a comment and let me know what you want and and I’ll make a custom one just for you!

Categories: Sewing Projects
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I’ve finally organized my corner of the house… it’s my sewing / workout corner all in one. I love my little corner of the house but it needs some color. This is where you come in… yes, all you people who read our blog but never show your face, or in blog world, never leave a comment. I’m asking for your help. I want to paint the cabinet in the corner and I want to paint my sewing chair… any suggestions as to what color??? I’m up for some daring and fun colors. So what do you think? Help me out here. Thanks! (and yes, I know I need a little artwork on the walls and maybe even some window treatments… working on that too but that’s another post :))

Categories: Sewing Projects
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Sunday we went to visit my Grandparents in Fremont. It had been a while since a visit so it was due time. We had a nice afternoon sitting outside, going for rides on the Gator and looking at old pictures of Dad when he was little. It’s always fun to visit the farm.

Categories: Family
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