Archive for the 'Family Fun' Category

Berries, Balls and Pies, oh my!

Published August 27, 2010 Family Fun , Just Because , Kids 4 Comments

I’ve been trying to stay on track with the aforementioned loom knitting progress, I promise! :)   …but I do have to jump in for a bit and share some little tidbits of our daily lives that we’ve  experienced in the last week, just to catch you up, lol.

We traveled to our home town on 3 very important missions:

  1. To pick as many blackberries as we could track down,
  2. To pick up our order of farm fresh blueberries that my parents fetched for us,  and
  3. To have some fun at the SW Washington Fair!  :D

For these missions we took my niece, Trinity, and armed with long sleeves, pants and gallon buckets we headed to the wilds for DIY berry picking.  Despite prickles and scratches, the hot beating sun, and some strategically placed dog dahoogies, we collected about 3 gallons in under 2 hours!  I thought that was quite the bounty… after sharing with Trinity, enough for a couple of pies right off the bat, and some freezer stock as well!  My parents brought home 15 lbs of blueberries for us too.  Lovely!  This definitely called for some blueberry pancakes the very next 2 mornings in a row, lol.

We took off to the fair, had fun looking around and the girls rode rides till they were exhausted.  They had one ride that was new this year…Water Balls.  This was the trippiest thing…literally, lol!  It was so funny to watch them roll and slide like little hamsters in their balls, all while floating on knee deep water…loved it! :)   See the video below to watch  Emily and Trinity have some rip-roaring water fun:

August Update~

Published August 16, 2010 Book Progress , Family Fun , Growing Up , Life , Loom Knitting 4 Comments

Here we are another week into the August goal planning for the book…let’s see how we’re doing!

  1. My daughter has started looming with me and she’s almost done test knitting one very doozy of a project.  Along the way, we’re taking step-by-step pics where needed.
  2. I’ve gotten 5 patterns typed into the computer…including 2 very involved ones!
  3. We got to travel to my little great-niece’s house to have a photo session with her sporting 3 of the projects for the book.  This was a lot of fun, as it was the first time the girls and I had gotten to meet her…she was only 2 weeks old at the time.  Such a sweetie-pie, let me tell you!  I realized I’ve already mentioned this trip in passing, but not in book context, so I thought it would be good to record about an official photo shoot, lol.  ;)

That’s pretty much it for the book for last week.  I did get another pattern all typed up and submitted to the Loom Knitter’s Circle for the Fall/Winter issue, so be looking for that to be happening soon. This project is one of my favorites that I have been saving for just the right time to share with you all…I hope you enjoy it!

Something that has been taking up a lot of time last week is taking my daughter back and forth to the DMV for her written exam to get her permit (an all day long process!) and then…teaching her to drive! Yes, this is my 18 year old, newly graduated girlie, but she has until just recently been dead set against learning to.  Which, really, I think is very responsible of her.  She was so busy getting both her high school and her AA completed at the same time that she  wanted to focus on those things and not push herself too far over the top.  She also worried about being behind the wheel of a “several ton killing machine” (in her own words, lol) and didn’t feel ready for that kind of responsibility…which in itself is very responsible indeed, don’t you think??  She’s doing quite well…on Saturday, she even drove us to Fred Meyer and back.  This is really saying something, because we’re talking about driving in the streets of TACOMA!  Quite an ordeal when you’ve had tons of driving experience, let alone a newbie behind the wheel.  All in all, she’s doing quite nicely. :)

I think with everything going on, and all the things I’m holding in my mind, I’m starting to be a bit scatter-brained.  I’m starting to not be able to get my words out correctly when I’m speaking…strange things come out of my mouth that are really supposed to be intelligible, but are hybrids of real words and things I just make up in my addled mind, lol.  I’ve also had 3 instances last week where I was picking up something at the store which I was sure was the right thing, only to get home and discover it was absolutely the wrong thing…something that’s been a long standing joke in my family about being my hubby’s trouble, only to now find myself being afflicted. :P   It didn’t make it any better that in every case it was something that he most often uses, and I got it wrong.  *sigh*

All this made going to my hubby’s annual family picnic for his work  yesterday very nice indeed.  I just played bingo for most of the time.  It was very soothing to only have to worry about the numbers in front of me and the only action required was placing a penny over the ones being called, lol.

…okay…enough whining.  Onto what’s up for the week ahead:

  1. Type 5 more projects into the computer.
  2. Complete test knitting for current item.
  3. Proceed to 2nd test knitting item (with pics).
  4. Bring to life 3 more projects from my notebooks.
  5. Enroll Megan into her new school.
  6. Survive more driver’s training.

If I make it through all that, it will be a small miracle indeed.  Well…considering the driver’s training, it might not be so small after all, lol!  ;)

Hope you all have a super fantastic week!

Bethany~

not much to say…

Published August 9, 2010 Book Progress , Family Fun Leave a Comment

…except that I’ve managed to complete 3 new projects last week! :D

Well…I’m actually only counting it as one of the seven that need to get done this month, but it really is three individual variations of a project that was on the list to be created, although it is under one main pattern title.  Got it?  Good! ;)

The other interesting piece of news is that I now have an employee!  My daughter Emily is going to be helping me loom up some of these goodies so that we are actually going to have a chance at meeting these deadlines…yippee!   She’s a very talented yarn crafter and will be an excellent right arm…especially since I’m a leftie, lol.

I did get to travel to my old home town of Chehalis twice last week.  We went to see my new grand-niece, Presley Elizabeth, on Tuesday…what a precious thing she is!  So cuddly and sweet…I could just hover over her and take pictures of her every breath and twitch, lol.  It was hard to pull away!  I found myself with the same difficulty when I got to visit with her again at our Albright Family Reunion on Saturday, which was the other reason for us to travel south.  It was really a lot of fun seeing everyone again and we realized when taking group pictures that we had FIVE generations in attendance!  Wow!  That’s something, isn’t it?  We decided that we’re going to bring the family into the computer age by starting a FB page so we can stay in touch better…that’s another something when you consider all those early generations figuring out how to work it all, lol!

Well…I should be off.  Back to Loomy-ville I go, lol! ;)   I’m thinking of making a collage of bits and pieces of projects finished thus far for the book…let you try and guess what they all are, lol!  Maybe I’ll have a little prize for the someone who guesses the most correct items.  hmmm…definitely something to think about!

Have a wonderful week…make it gReAt!!!

Bethany~

Family Adventure Time!

Published July 29, 2010 Family Fun , Holidays , Life 5 Comments

This past weekend, all four of us managed to escape the hub-bub of the big city to explore the beautiful and enchanted Whidbey Island!  It was the first time for all of us; amazingly so, since I was born and raised here in Washington State, and my hubby has lived here since he was 10 yrs old…well, except for the 5.5 yrs we spent in breathtaking Bend, Oregon.  ;)

I can say without any hesitation that everything was an absolute delight…a perfect trip from start to finish!  The weather was just right; warm and breezy, yet not overpoweringly so, with bright blue skies the entire time.  We drove first to the northern tip of the island on Friday afternoon and stayed in Oak Harbor.  We spent through Saturday exploring the general vicinity, including Deception Pass State Park, Deception Pass Bridge, and the local shops.  The Beach at the park was fabulous: calm and sheltered, no massive rush of wind that you normally get when you head to the coast…needless to say we thoroughly enjoyed our visit there!  We enjoyed the pool and jacuzzi at the hotel to it’s fullest as well. ;)

On Sunday morning, we checked out out of our hotel and headed south down the length of the island, ready to stop at anything that looked interesting.  What a delight this trip was!  So full of wonderful views of foliage, farms, flower filled meadows, mountain vistas, all framed by the sparkling blue water of the Sound.   We soon saw signs about the Loganberry Festival at Greenbank Farm, and turned in to see what it was all about.  We had a great time exploring this festival that was filled with fun market booths, artist demonstrations, live music and great food!  There was even a building that housed homey type of crafts such as weaving, spinning, block printing, and silk painting…needless to say, I stayed here a while, ooohing and aaahing, lol!   The funny thing about this festival was that there was (that we could see) not an actual loganberry in sight, lol!  There were loganberry wines, jams, pies and syrups, though.  ;)

After the day was spent at the festival, we continued along the island, traveling through quaint villages and more scenic views, and generally getting a feel for what we would love to make sure to spend more time doing when we make this trip again.  We ended the day by getting onto the ferry at the southern tip of the island and heading to the mainland.  This was fun, as it was our girlies’ first trip ever on a ferry, and many years since either one of my hubby  or I had gotten to ride one.  It was a lot of fun…and could have been much longer for us to truly enjoy it to the fullest!

I’ve put together a little slide show detailing our trip…I hope you enjoy the views as much as we did! :)

Is it July already?!

Published July 1, 2010 Book Progress , Family Fun , Growing Up , Kids , Loom Knitting , Looming Patterns , Project Preview 3 Comments

Oh…My…Goodness!  :P   That’s pretty much all I can say.  I’m flabbergasted, lol!

So much has been going on to keep us all very busy over here in my little corner of the world.  June has seen my daughter graduate both from high school and from her first 2 years of college, with a big celebration at the end. It has seen my youngest daughter complete her first year of at-home-online school (whew!).  It has seen my aunt and uncle through their 50th year of marriage, and my hubby and I through our 20th.  :)

June has also seen us through a whole lot of loom knitting!  First, I found myself working on some adorable little booties for my nephew and his wife’s shower for their first baby girl, who is expected to arrive in July (oops!  That’s this month… I’d better get working on that matching hat!)

It also found us…I say us because my daughters actually got in on the fun for this one!… working on a total of eight projects in just seven days!  Can you believe it?  All the projects I have on my plate right now (at last count it was nine UFO’s!) and we’re able to team up and actually complete eight entire projects in just a week’s time (well, it was actually 2 each of 4 projects total).  Albeit, we did throw some very late nights in there to be able to meet the deadline, but all was accomplished and nothing was late. :)   We were working on some items for Provo Craft to be able to take on tour with them to show all the cool things you can create using the Knifty Knitter looms.  All in all, we made 2 table runners, 2 doggie sweaters, 2 pillows, and 2 cuddly sweet things.  I’m planning on sharing with you all about how I made the doggie sweaters, as it’s the Pooch Parka , and I think I can share some additional tid bits that may help you if you’re planning on creating it sometime in the near future.  As for the other items…I think I need to keep those quiet for now, as I think they’re going to end up in the bigger project that I’m working on.   So, sssssshhhhh! ;)   (btw: those booties and hat above will most likely make their way into the project as well, so stay tuned!)

But for now…I’d like to share with you our pride in my eldest daughter’s accomplishments.  I have put this little video collage together to celebrate Emily and the amazing girlie that she is.  I hope you enjoy and can feel the piece of happiness and pride in my heart that is stamped with her name. :)

Beautiful Bling!

Published May 25, 2010 Beading , Crafting , Family Fun , Kids , Tutorials 7 Comments

Here’s a wonderful new idea to make some absolutely stunning jewelry pieces from very inexpensive sources and using  simple tools that you probably already have lying about the house.  Those cute gals at The DIY Dish have definitely stirred up my beading bug again, lol!  :)   Please pop on over and watch this great webisode…you’ll be happy you did!

Patterns: new and “new to here”

Published May 23, 2010 Family Fun , Free Loom Patterns , Loom Knitting , Peggin' Pages , School Leave a Comment

I’ve been doing a little pattern updating for this little bloggie!

This place in cyber space is supposed to be about Loom Knitting right?  So I thought I’d better give you a little bit of loomy goodness to hold you over for a time, while busy-ness still consumes all our free time (and sanity) here at the Dailey household.  :P   We’re wrapping up the end of the year stuff for school (online 8th grade for my youngest and the finish of running start for my eldest), and I’m heading into full party planning gear for my eldest daughter’s graduation celebration in June… which should be fun indeed!  (at least I’m hoping, lol!)  The invites have been sent to the printers and I’m picking them up tomorrow…the community building in our home town has been reserved… ideas have been flying non stop for good old fashioned party fun. :)   I’ll keep you posted on the details on that as I go…

But wasn’t I saying something about loom knitting??  Oh, yes! Patterns! Heheheee… I’m telling you, if “side-trackedness” was a disease, I’ve definitely got it, lol!  I’m constantly being pulled in a dozen different directions.  :P

Okay…Back to business!

The first pattern I’d like to introduce is the pattern that was originally published as the bonus pattern for the 2009/10 Winter Issue of the Loom Knitter’s Circle….

It is now available for general purchase:

WARM WOOLIES! :D

It’s definitely not too early to begin thinking about whipping up a few pairs of these to have handy when the cold weather hits.

The next item of business is a “new to the bloggie” pattern: Pretty Peds!  This project is specially designed for the EvenKnit Sock Loom by Dalooms.com, but I recently created an alternate version for use on the Knifty Knitter, so you can find this version, as well as the link to the wonderful EvenKnit Loom here.

And last, but not least, there’s a new pattern of mine now available in the newest issue of the Loom Knitter’s Circle: 

Itty Bitty Bags!  These tiny projects was created as Christmas gifts for my girlies this past holiday.  They were needing little pouches for their MP3 players, so I whipped these little cuties up in no time flat with some yummy self striping sock yarn.  Please enjoy this project for it’s many uses (my youngest daughter has taken to using hers as a secret cash stash, or jewelry tote, whichever is needed most at the time, lol!) and easy versatility to convert to any size needed.

I hope you enjoy these new projects and can use them for some stash busting loomy fun!  Have a happy week! :D

Bethany~

Good times~Good tastes

Published May 17, 2010 Books , Family Fun , Life , Trying to be Good ;) 7 Comments

Our family has been undergoing some changes.

We’ve been trying to adjust our daily routines and habits so that we are gearing more towards the healthy side of things.  It’s not that we haven’t been trying to do this somewhat already, but, particularly in the area of food intake, we haven’t been as careful as we could be…as we really should be.  ;)   We all really enjoy breads… and sweets …and all manner of yummies that really aren’t good for us in the long run.

Diabetes in mild forms have been a problem on both sides of our families.  We decided that rather than wait until the problem strikes us hard from our bad habits, we’d try to beat it to the punch and take a detour…

Well…to be exact… a trial run down The Diabetes DTOUR DIET Cookbook.  It’s really packed with some fabulous meals and know-how on portion sizes and what nutrients your body needs to function properly.  We’ve been giving some of the menus a go and have found them to be pretty much delicious every time!

Every time I serve a new menu item, my hubby takes his plate and just ooooo’s and aaaaa’s about how gorgeous the food looks.  He says it’s like a holiday each time! :)   Praise and enthusiasm like this makes continuing with this project a no-brainer, right?  The portions seem small at first, but they’re actually really filling… and taste satisfying to the palette.  Most of them have been mmmmmmm approved by each member of the family!  Some of the greens, of course, are being snubbed by my youngest daughter, as she’s pretty picky about that kind of thing, but I figure that when the time is right, her sadly underdeveloped taste buds will kick into gear, lol!

The time to prepare these meals are really no more than I would spend on any other meal I tend to make, so we’re good there too.  Lots of fresh herbs and spices are used to really add punch to the recipes.

Results: After using this book and adhering to it’s plan about 90% for the last 3 weeks, my hubby has lost 7 lbs and several inches all around!  I’ve only lost about 4 lbs, but I can feel that I have shrunk a bit everywhere, and my clothes are fitting me better than before.  I’m not sure why I’m not dropping faster like I have with other “diets”, but I figure that if what we’re doing is healthy in the long run, then it’s worth sticking it out.

Here’s a peek at some of the dishes we’ve been enjoying lately: (just hover your mouse over the pics for the  names of the entrees) (and yes, these were made by little me…which goes to show that anyone can make these, lol!)

Looks pretty De-lish, right?  :D   This bottom one is a favorite breakfast of ours…my hubby says he would be happy having it pretty much very morning, lol!

I hope you’re all enjoying a happy and healthy middle of May!

Bethany~

Easter Fun~

Published April 9, 2010 Crafting , Family Fun , Gettinitpegged Gear , Holidays , Loom Knitting 1 Comment

...of course there was a surprise goodie filled egg hunt on Easter morn!I just wanted to show n tell and little about the eggs that my daughters and I decorated this year for Easter. :)

This year we decided to do a little more grown up version of egg coloring and so hand blew and painted one egg each.  It was really pretty fun!  Let me tell you though, that blowing the yolk out of an egg takes a bit of effort, lol.  If you’re at all susceptible to head aches (which, of course, I am!) you might want to make the hole on the bottom of the egg a bit larger and use a pokey thing (we used a cake tester) to help release the contents just a bit easier.

Also… be sure to be careful not to squeeze too hard with your fingers while blowing, so that you don’t accidentally crush your egg in the process!  We did have one egg casualty, but that was from the egg rolling off  the table and onto the floor while gathering our supplies. :P   We figured it might be easier to keep the eggs safe if we formed little stands with aluminum foil to help keep the eggs upright during the draining and painting process.

Once the eggs were completely drained, we used a combination of water color and acrylic paints to decorate.

Mine is just floral and stripes on a soft pink wash… lots of colors, as is usual for me, lol.

My younger daughter’s is a classy show of bold stripes on a pastel background.

My eldest daughter got really artsy and created a Sontaran from Doctor Who!  We’ve really been into this series lately, and the egg shape was just too hard to resist for my girlie, lol!

I hope that you all had a fantabulous Easter weekend as well!

btw: Stay tuned for the grand opening of the new line of Gettinitpegged Gear, hopefully launching tomorrow!!! :D   …and don’t forget the 50% off Spring Sale for patterns in the Peggin’ Pages through this Sunday!  Happy Looming!

Bethany~

…a little ApRiL FoOlS DaY fun :)

Published April 1, 2010 Family Fun , Holidays , Just Because 2 Comments

Just thought I’d share a few laughs with you on this beautiful first day of April… Enjoy!

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