Thimbleanna

Family

Gingerbread Houses 2010

Whew!  I hope you all had a wonderful New Year’s weekend.  It sure whizzed by quickly — in fact the whole Christmas break is just a blur to me.  As much fun as it was, I’m thinking it will be good to get back into a routine.  Thanks for all your fun comments on my blogiversary giveaway (if you missed it, the drawing is still open until Jan. 7th, just go HERE.)  It’s been really fun reading all of the comments, especially from those of you who are just discovering blogs.   There are so many wonderful blogs out there — prepare to be inspired!

Gingerbread Houses

Anyway, lots of you mentioned the annual gingerbread competition.  You’re all so cute — thanks for being interested! I’m sorry I made you wait so long, there just hasn’t been any time to go through the pictures.  I didn’t think we were as inspired as last year, but we still had lots of fun.  So, let’s get to it!

Gingerbread Houses

Team 1 was supposed to be MeMum, CuteNiece1 and TheSecondChild, but TheSecondChild had to work late on the 23rd, so he wasn’t able to come home until the morning of the 24th. We jokingly refer to this group as our crazies and we laughed that the team draw put them all together. I think they had big plans to make a psych ward, but somehow that changed when TheSecondChild couldn’t make it.

We had a CuteFriend of the boys’ stand in for TheSecondChild at the last minute. CuteNiece2 was working late so CuteFriend and MeMum started building the house. CuteFriend had never built houses with us before and as he was constructing the house, MeMum was often heard to utter “just wing it”. They were having a terrible time and when CuteNiece2 arrived, she rolled up her sleeves to get things straightened out, but by then, CuteFriend was also saying “just wing it”. Sadly, “just wing it” wasn’t terribly effective and their house collapsed and they threw in the towel.

Gingerbread Houses

Team 2 surprised us with an adorable American Eagle house in honor of CuteNephew’s new job at our local American Eagle store.  He and SweetiePie made a wonderful team and they did a great job.  They left a roof off so that the inside of the store could be seen with all the clothes and mirrors.  I love all the special touches on this house – especially the swirly frosting.  Very, very cute!

Gingerbread Houses

Team 3 was TheManoftheHouse and me.  We did a camera shop and didn’t even manage to finish our house.  We wanted to put lots more frosting on the front and back and a line of kids waiting for Santa photos, but I spent most of the first hour fixing bad frosting bags for everyone (note to self: use plastic bags next year).  While the initial construction on our house was drying, TheManoftheHouse was busy building that adorable little camera on a tripod.

Gingerbread Houses

Team 4 was CrazyBIL, TheFirstChild and BigDaddy.  Their house started out looking suspiciously like last year’s house and when BigDaddy was spotted making a sleigh, someone asked them what they were making.  CrazyBIL said a Sleigh Wash and we all started laughing.  It WAS just like last year’s house.  The funny thing is, before we all started, the three of them discussed whether a sleigh wash had ever been done, and none of them could remember one.  After that discovery, they changed course and made people going into the sleigh wash or something or other.  There was serious cheating going on when they ripped off a big hunk of cotton from my nearby snow village scene and used it for smoke coming out of the chimney.

Gingerbread Houses

Team 5 was MyDadLovesMeBestSister and CuteNiece2.  They made a super cute art studio and I can’t believe I didn’t manage to get a good shot of the front of the house.  Look at those adorable little topiaries that MDLMBS made from Lindor truffles and Reese’s peanut butter cups.  Those were my favorite touch from all the houses.  Followed closely by the cute little pretzel easels featuring Christmas art work.  Oh So Clever!!!  They left the roof off of their house too (ok, it might have kept falling off) and it made for perfect views into the arteeeest studio.

Gingerbread Houses

And the winner by votes?  The Camera Shop.  I’m thinking it was either a sympathy vote because we ran out of time or because everyone loved the little tripod camera. We gave the prizes (movie tickets) to the runner up team — SweetiePie and CuteNephew.

Gingerbread Houses

So, there you have it.  We’re all running out of ideas for houses, so hopefully it won’t be even more downhill from here!

XOXO,
Anna

A New Kitty

Well Hello!  Did all you kids in the US have a nice long weekend?  We had a wonderful time with TheSecondChild and his very sweet friend.  We had friends and family over for a cookout and had lots of fun.  And there was some oohing and aahing over his new little kitty too.  Meet Mufasa.  Moofie for short.

moofie

Moofie is 4 months old and cute as can be.  A little ferocious too — he gave Scruff and Paul a run for their money.  Needless to say, there was a lot of hissing.

Other than that, there’s not much new to report.  I made a quick birthday banner for a co-worker’s computer.  I tested it out on our computer tonight.  Would it cheer you up to see that little banner on your computer at work?  I made it from fabric scraps, diluted glue and some divine twine.  Speaking of which, I’ve added black and orange to my little store — just in time for Halloween (a-a-and it’s still on sale).

Birthday Banner

Did you see the cool new google page today? Those dancing balls were fun to play with. There was lots of speculation about what they meant — I read somewhere this morning that google said it was not to celebrate their birthday. I also read that some people think they’ll have a big announcement at some convention tomorrow. I love google!

Ok — must run and watch the end of Neal Caffrey Eye Candy White Collar.  Have a good week!

XOXO,
Anna

Number 35

Before I start the Number 35 story, I should tell you that I’m not a sports fan.  I grew up in a female household, except for BigDaddy and he wasn’t big into sports.  We didn’t grow up with that incessant drone of monotone announcers and crowd noise on holidays and weekends.  My idea of sport was the occasional bike ride.  But, that all changed when my two boys came along.  I made an exception for baseball.

I think I’ve mentioned here before, that from a very early age, TheFirstChild would sit to watch those long baseball games on TV.  He talked so much about baseball that he made TheManoftheHouse crazy.  But not me, I was thrilled that my little guy was so passionate about something.  I became the only one who would talk baseball with him.  We cut our baseball teeth on the White Sox — he learned from them and then he taught me.  For several years I even knew the all White Sox players, their positions and their usual batting order.  And most importantly, I knew about The Big Hurt.  Frank Thomas.

Frank Thomas Day

Frank played first base and designated hitter for the White Sox from 1990 to 2005 — TheFirstChild’s entire childhood.  TheFirstChild idolized Big Frank – Frank was the topic of so many dinner-time conversations that he was practically a member of the family.  So, in February, when Frank retired from baseball, TheFirstChild called.

Him: Mom.  The White Sox are going to retire Frank Thomas’s number on August 29th and we have to go.

Me: We do?

Him:  Yes!  You and Me and The Big Hurt.  Remember?

Be. Still. My. Heart.  Of course.  Of course I remembered and of course we must go.  And Yesterday was the big day.

It was awesome.  We had seats in the nosebleed section, but we were behind home plate, so we didn’t care.  Many of Frank’s old teammates were in attendance.  Big Frank was presented with a few mementos and then he spoke.  Or sobbed rather, as he thanked all the people in his life that are so important to him.

Frank Thomas Day

I cried too.  I don’t know what TheFirstChild was thinking but I was remembering all those baseball games during his childhood.  All the times I was making dinner and heard “Mom!  Frank hit a home run!” or “Mom!  Get in here!  You have to come and watch the re-play!”  All the times I’d come home from work and listen to the play-by-play of an afternoon summer game that I had missed.

Frank Thomas Day

I remembered the little guy who would be so excited when the White Sox acquired an exciting new prospect.  There’s nothing quite like seeing a 7-yr old boy jump out of his seat yelling “You can PutItOnThe boooaaarrrrrdddd – Yesssss!”  And the little guy who was so sad when one of his favorite players had been traded.  All the times I said “It’s only a game” to try and cheer him up after a particularly painful loss.

Frank Thomas Day

Frank Thomas, circa 1997 — Twins Stadium

I remembered the excitement of being at the ball park with my wide-eyed little boys, hanging out by the dugout or the team bus in hopes of getting an autographed baseball. And what an exciting moment it was to hear the euphoric college junior on the other end of the phone declare “Mom! The White Sox are going to the World Series!!!” He went to the first game of the 2005 world series all by himself because we couldn’t justify buying more than one ticket at the obscene ticket prices.  But to send him was worth every penny.  I was in England with MeMum and BigDaddy on the day of the big game and I remembered standing in an old red phone booth in the dark, late that night as he told me all about the big game. What a thrill!

Frank Thomas Day

The ballpark was jam-packed yesterday and the heat was intolerable.  I heard comments like “I’ve been coming to these games for 30 years and I’ve never seen anything like it.”  We waited in long lines and they ran out of parking spaces.  Yesterday’s game was a mastercard commercial writer’s dream.  Ticket Price.  Frank Thomas Bobble Head dolls for the first 10,000 fans {score!}.

Frank Thomas Day

And memories.  Priceless, lifetime memories.  I often wonder if Big Frank has any idea how many little boys’ lives he affected.  If he knows how much joy he provided to those who cheered him on as he broke hitting records and hit home runs.  Thank You, Thank You Big Frank.  From the bottom of my mother’s heart.

Frank Thomas Day

And thanks to my little boy.  Who pinched that heart when he called up and invited his mom to the baseball game.  I love, love, love you Sweetie.

XOXO,
Anna

The Children’s Zoo

We’ve had absolutely gorgeous weather here for the last two days.  The august heat and humidity have disappeared, so I decided a little outdoor play was in order for my friday off of work.  I called MeMum and BigDaddy and convinced them to go with me to the zoo.

Zoo

We have a wonderful little children’s zoo here in northern Indiana and I haven’t been to visit since the kids were little.  Our zoo has three main attractions — an African Veldt, a Rainforest, and an Australian Adventure.  Plus a few areas with typical zoo animals that don’t really fit into those three areas.

Zoo

My favorite area has always been the African area.  Jenny asked me in an e-mail today what I thought of the African area. I loved it Jenny!   It’s much nicer than it used to be and I really enjoyed myself.  There are some really interesting animals, and of course, the old standbys.

Zoo

We had fun watching the little striped mongoose colony — babies pictured above.  You can’t tell by the picture, but those little guys are pretty tiny — they’re about the size of your hand.

Zoo

My very favorite part of the day was watching all the kids feed lettuce to the giraffe.  Lots of giggles and excitement when that very long tongue (the picture only caught about 1/2 of his tongue!) brushed up against some little person’s hand.

Zoo

I was especially excited to see the new baby giraffe, as there’s been a lot of advertisement about it since his (her?) arrival.  She(he)’s adorable!

Zoo

Gotta love those classic stripes.

Zoo

We skipped the rainforest, thinking we might not be able to see it all before we got too tired.  On the way to the Australian Adventure, it’s fun to stop and watch the penguins play.  It amazes me how they can survive the summer heat.

Zoo

The Australian Adventure was fun for me since the animals that we saw seem to be fairly common non-zoo animals that I see on some of my Aussie friends’ blogs.  They have an aviary that you can walk through.

Zoo

Another nice thing about the Australian area is that it is more open than the other areas.  There are no cages between you and the birds.  Or the kangaroos.  There are marked paths to stay on, but if a kangaroo choses to come onto the path, you can just reach out and pet him.

Zoo

So, my Aussie friends, is this what it looks like when the neighborhood ‘roo decides to pay your porch a visit?

Zoo

I thought the dingo display was the most interesting.  The info talks about how split Australia is on dingos — many people think they’re pests, while others value them.  It sounds a little like the struggle that we have between ranchers and environmentalists over wolves.  These dingos were born last year in Australia.

Zoo

The dingo display said that it’s believed that there are only 75 pairs of pure dingos left in the world.  This pair is the only pure pair in the U.S.

Zoo

After Australia, we made our way to the exit, stopping to see the giant tortoise on the way out.  This muddy old guy was fun to watch for a few minutes.  They can live up to 150 years of age.  Kind of fun to think that my great-great-great-grandchildren may someday visit this fella after I’m long gone.

Zoo

So that was our fun day.  Tomorrow it’s back to work, cleaning out the garage.  Then, another play day on Sunday.  In the meantime, the bandaids are proof that I’ve quilted every night this week.

Bandaids

Well, the bandaid on my pinkie isn’t a quilting injury — I smashed my fingernail three months ago and it’s at that stage where it wants to rip off so I have to protect it.  Man, those things take a long time to grow out!

Have a nice weekend!
XOXO,
Anna

La.a.a.zy

Well, talk about some lazy blogging.  I don’t have a clue where the summer is going.  And I’m thinking that maybe like Jennifer, I’m suffering from the blahs.  The German in-laws have gone home and so have TheFirstChild and SweetiePie, who left on Friday morning.  TheManoftheHouse was supposed to be gone until Saturday night and I think I hurt his feelings Friday night when I wasn’t jumping up and down for joy to see that he’d come home a day early.  It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see him, but darn!  I was really looking forward to a nice long bath while reading my new American Patchwork and Quilting and maybe even being able to put my hands on the tv remote control.  {Siiiiggghhhh}.

Bike Ride

Anyway, when everyone was still here, we all decided to ride bikes downtown one night and go to a baseball game.  There were 11 of us on 9 bikes (one tandem and my youngest niece riding on a fender) and I think we created a bit of a spectacle chaining all those bikes together out in front of the stadium.  We had a great time and the highlight for me had to be when I crashed into TheFirstChild and fell off of my bike!  Too bad we don’t have a picture of me splayed out there on the street LOL.

Bike Ride

It was also really fun for me to watch TheFirstChild explaining baseball to the German relatives.  Baseball isn’t a European sport and there are a lot of little intricacies in the game that we who watch it all the time don’t even think about.  TheFirstChild is rabid about baseball, so he was the perfect tutor and I could tell he loved sharing his passion.

Bike Ride

During the seventh inning stretch, CrazyBIL, his brother, my nephew and TheFirstChild all tried their luck in the batting cages.  CrazyBIL’s brother did an amazing job for having never played baseball!  The night whizzed by and at the end we were treated to fireworks, which was a fun surprise.

Bike Ride

So, now we’re all back to normal and I’m having a little trouble being motivated.  As I mentioned in my last post, I’d run out of the bee fabric that I’m using to complete my latest UFO.   I owe the fabulous Miss Jean (oooh, go check our her pretty new baby) a BIG thank you for finding a place where I could order it.  I’d already ordered twice, only to have my orders later canceled.  Now I have no excuse not to get back to work!

Bee Fabric

Oh, and one last thing.  I always think it’s funny when someone rants on their blog.  Abby ragged on vinyl and fondant this week and totally cracked me up.  Check her out for a good laugh!

XOXO,
Anna

Oh!  And Thanks for all the twine orders — I hope you all love that stuff as much as I do!