Baby got a new pair of shoes

I found a pair of Dansko clogs that personifies me to a T!

I bought them on the spot!!!!



One might say that I have a bit of a fascination with paisley prints and the likes.
Oh and reds and browns and greens

For example:

My couch


My Bag


My cape fabric


My shower curtain


I am thoroughly in love and thanks for reading!

Say hello to my little friends!!!!

A first for me:

Grilled Chicken Fajitas
(they were SOOOOO delicious!)


and my new best friend who my sister kindly introduced me to a couple of weeks ago. I highly recommend you set up a meeting!

A capelet I made today!

I had purchased this book a while ago, and came across a pattern for a capelet the other day!

I bought the perfect fabric combo ( a soft thin wale corduroy and a wool blend that is super soft!)


I altered the pattern (of course), and made it reversible... here is the final product! I love it!



It is a bit fancy for my neck of the woods, but I love it and I fully intend to ROCK IT!

Adirondack Mama's Gifts Made The NEWS!!!

Here is the link! Fall Accessories for Babies

The author found us via ETSY and linked us as one her top picks for fall accessories.

Some new scrub tops...

I made one for me and one for Julia:

Mine: This one had started as one for Julia as a v neck pull over top, but the neck was, shall we say, wonky, so I altered it, and turned it into a cardigan style scrub top and voila



One for Julia:
A longer version
(I hope she loves it)

Campfire...long over due!

IMG_0889
Originally uploaded by samthehamsmom

Check out my flickr site for the campfire pics!!!!!

Operation She Wolf....OWWWW OOOOOOO!

So, it all began the other morning while I was watching my usual smattering of MTV and VH1 I was contentedly half listening and watching the videos when all of a sudden I looked up at the screen and I was mesmerized!
I could NOT TAKE MY EYES AWAY!

from this:




and this:


and this:


and this:


Over and over and over and over again I watched it! I think I officially have a girl crush! It was enough to make even Gisele Bundchen jealous over Shakira's physique. I mean come on...look at those poses! I didn't even know the body went that way! I think if I tried those moves I would dislocate something! Shakira is amazingly beautiful, and is not stick thin!
She is my body idol, which is why I am currently taking part in
Operation She Wolf

Operation She Wolf consists of:
Eating less
Walking and exercising more
Not eating after 7pm each night

So tell me...who is your weight loss, or body inspiration?

OWWWWWW OOOOOOOOOO!

It's Back...Our Etsy shop is back online

Today I resurrected The Adirondack Mamas Gifts ETSY shop! It is back and better than ever! We will slowly be adding more stock, but have over 40 (FOURTY!!!!!) items currently listed.

TELL YOUR FRIENDS!!!

100 % Guarantee on all goods...Buy with confidence!

A video of my Sam as a baby...TEAR!!!

I can't believe that this video was almost 5 years ago. He looks the same, and he is just as sweet now as he looks in this video.
Here is the link

LIKE I SAID ABOVE...TEAR!!!

My newest pattern...

Here is my newest... car seat kick guards for the back of your front seats! Stop those kiddos from trashing the back of your seat with their dirty, salty, shoes.

I BOUGHT A NEW CAR!!!

Yesterday I had an amazing day! I woke up at 3 AM and was bound and determined after much hemming and hawing that I was going to research a new car for me. My 2000 Ford Windstar has, over time, been slowly having cumulative problems, and frankly...I am not one to like to put money into a car I already make a payment for, I therefore am a WARRANTY GAL!!!! I like to not have to worry that the repair person is going to call me back and say " Mrs Hooker...we have some bad news... your repairs will be $555.66...will that be check or charge?" I like to go into the repair station, and hand them my FULLY WARRANTED CAR'S keys, leave and know when I go back I have nothing to pay. That, my friends, is my PIECE OF MIND! You see, neither myself, nor my husband are mechanically inclined, therefore we PAY THROUGH THE EYES for car repairs, and I am SICK OF IT! I wanted a new car with an awesome warranty, and I was going to find the right car for me. After the boys got on the bus, Julia, Jay and I headed to Plattsburgh to the Hyundai Dealer. You see, Julia bought an adorable Hyundai Tucson 2 years ago and she LOVES IT! So I stopped by to see how the Elantra drove. We took a shiny, black, GLS model for a drive. LOVE AT FIRST DRIVE!!!!!! I haggled (the best I could) and got the dealer to give me $1600.00 for my VERY USED VAN, and I BOUGHT IT!!!!!!! It has the most options I have ever seen and it is AMAZINGLY cuter than my van. Oh, and it isn't RED!!! I hate RED cars and I have only had red cars because I was impulsive for those purchases. Here it is, and thanks for reading my long winded tale!!!! Tell me what you drive and why you chose it!!! I would love to hear your tales of travel!

Introducing my nieces... (boy that sounds weird) I only had nephews!!!!

Jay, Sam and I traveled to Rochester to see my in laws this past Tuesday night after work and we had a great time there. While we were there for the 5 days of our "vacation" we got to meet Jays' fraternal twin nieces Ashlyn and Jordyn who were born Sunday the 23rd. They are about the same size as Julia and I were when we were born...4 lbs 11 oz, and 4 lbs 13 oz. They are definitely fraternal as you can see from the pictures...here they are.

Ashlyn (L), Jordyn (R)

They had feeding tubes for about 30 hours to let them rest since they were 6 weeks early, but they are otherwise doing well and are in the special care nursery and not the NICU anymore.
Ashlyn Renee

Jordyn Grace

I must say as nice as it was to be in the presence of babies...there was not a twinge, or a tingle, or a tugging at my uterus strings.
Ahhhhhhhh content with my boy~ Enough said!

Here we are at Chucke E Cheese's for the third time during our 5 day trip!
He is a GREAT pretend ATV driver!

Scrub a dub dub...

I made a pattern today for a scrub top fitted to me exactly! I made one for me, and one for Julia...

This is the one for Julia...she is a brown gal!

This is mine...

Some new back to school creations:

After an inspiration from my twinnie Julia ,

I made these name tags today to keep the boys organized in the school bus shuffle
(I am so nervous that they will not get on the right bus)


and these checklists for our husbands when they have to get their OWN children ready for school in the morning... Oh the horror! LOL


Here they are modeling the name tags...they are encased in packaging bags to protect them from the elements, and little sticky hands.

Ahhhhhh it feels so good to be prepared!!!

Glads, Flocks, and Bee Bomb...Oh my

A smattering of loveliness from my garden! I love the mix of colors. Ahhhhh so nice to have some color on my table.

My poor child...

Is now my lucky child!!! Today after much bad mothering months, I finally provided my son with a REAL BED!!!! Granted, all toll, the kid probably only spent 1/2 a year on the futon mattress (on the floor mind you) since he spent most nights in our bed until we made him start sleeping in his own bed (see old post). But today I bought him a twin mattress, and box spring, and bed skirt. My mother provided some old sheets from my gram, and I used an old full size bed frame I had in the basement that Julia and I tie rapped to fit a twin mattress. I feel like a million bucks and feel so much better to finally have a REAL BED for my precious boy. He could have cared less about what he slept on, but I felt like a loser, and now he has an awesome, spacious, clean, lovely room to spend his nights in and he LOVES IT!!!!!! Now all I have to do is sand and paint the wall seams and walls and Voila...a finished room for my boy!

Desperate times call for desperate measures:

As I am writing this, I am hoping that some of you who have school age, or almost school age children have been where I am right now...
SCARED TO DEATH THEIR KID IS GOING TO BE
THE " DUMB ONE"
in school. The boys are very smart, loving, good boys, but they are by no means an expert when it comes to letter recognition and, as they are now called, "site words". I feel that we have lost all of the ground over the summer that the boys gained while they were under the pleasant, patient, eye of Mrs. Beglin (Pre K teacher extra-ordinaire). So having purged this confession and then realizing that there is less than a month left till the first day of Kindergarten (GASP), I decided to make the following videos. I have tried passing flash cards, that I have made, with letters on them to Julia, to quiz the boys on, time and time again, but they always get lost in the bottom of a bag, or trashed, etc. So I decided to make it fool proof, and uniform. The same explanations, the same cards, and the same system. All WE have to do is go to my youtube channel and click on each of the 3 videos below, and do this 2 times EVERY DAY day and I WILL FEEL BETTER!!!!! The boys are already gaining ground, and it feels awesome!!!!
I can almost see their brains growing~ LOL.

So without further a'do...

Lala's Letter Lesson

Lala's Letter Quiz

Pre K-Kindergarten Site Words

My goal is to prepare them for anything they throw them, so hopefully they will feel confident on the first day of school! I want everyone to think they are as wonderful as I do!
One small step for me, one HUGE STEP FOR THE BOYS!!!

How precious is this?

I modified the 2T pattern I had and made 5 dresses today in 3-4 T sizes. My model as always (Sam) was very accommodating! This is a bit snug and short on him so I am calling it 3-4 T. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

How Lovely!!!!

Today at the farmers market while we were having a lull in customers at our own booth I received a phone call from the mechanic where I had dropped Jay's car off this morning to have some brake work done.

Here is my end of the conversation:
Hello?
The car is done already? Great!
How much is the bill for?
UNDER WARRANTY? NO COST???
REALLY????
YIPPEEEEE~

So now with my new found windfall I decided to buy some plants from a guy across from our booth. Let me just preface the following pictures by saying that in the 5 years since we built our house I have never planted flowers. I have though: strewn seed mixes, planted hanging baskets, and bulbs, none of which every truly flourished. So having said this I am not to optimistic about my newest acquisitions, but I am hopeful. I bought 10 of the HARDIEST perennials he sold. I am giving one that has 3 Lily blooms to my mother since she mentioned liking the ground cover from them. I planted the rest and here is a smattering of the likes:

The finished project:
My very modest garden, to compliment my very modest house

These little lovelies are adjacent to my "garden" and are just about to turn into the juiciest, plumpest black raspberries. MMMMMM!

To end my day I decided to take a trip down this:

and across this:

to pillage the HOLY GRAIL of BLUEBERRIES!!!
(Jealous?)
Hope you all had a lovely day! Tell me of your landscaping or lack thereof!

Hmmmmmm...I am not doing this any time soon!

Well, today I got called off and was able to bring our boys to our cousin Aurora's 5th Birthday Party. My Aunt Patti, her mother, was holding the festivities at the Avalanche Adventures mini putt and bounce house extraordinaire. I woke up to a dreary, dismal day all around and was hoping that it would be at the bowling alley instead, but I received the phone call at 11:00 saying that it was officially going to be at the fore mentioned. So I pulled up my boot straps, loaded the boys in the car, and was bound and determined to have a great time.

Here we are on our way to meet the gang! We practiced singing Happy Birthday, talked about "being good boys" and "listening" to Auntie/Mama, and how we were going to thank Aunt Patti and Aurora for inviting us. I was most excited for the possibility of a nice time!


So we get to the party, and here is the main event... The Bounce Houses!
These "death traps" were more than a little damp, slippery, and covered in stained plastic sides with god knows what smeared on them from kids faced being pummeled against the sides while jumping ensues. One child even pee'd his pants in the SpongeBob one just before we headed inside. Here are a smattering of photos from the jumping mayhem.
THEY ALL DID HAVE A BLAST THOUGH!! !










As you can see from the group shot...the wheels were almost all off some of the kids, ours included!

Please understand that there will be no pictures from the cake and indoor activities...I had all I could do from swallowing an entire bottle of Celexa in order to cope. So, here is a run down of the indoor events:

CAKE, FROSTING, MESS
Unorganized present opening and scattering
Tunnel caves, and crying for mini golf
A phone call from my beloved sister who offered to come over and rescue me
Eben and Sam MELTING INTO OBLIVION that only sugar, rowdy activities, meeting many kids they don't know, and no nap by 3:10 pm can bring.
Dragging to the car, and thanking Aunt Patti for the "FUN"

OK, so it wasn't that bad until the end, but isn't that what everyone remembers? Or just me???

So on the way home, my smile had faded into an annoyed frown, which only escalated when I got stuck behind 4 cars going 35 miles an hour...and by the way, I usually don't take photos while driving, but at 35 MPH...who gives a shit!


Please God...look at Sam's face behind me in this shot!!!! It kills me!!!
My lovely line of SLOW TOURIST F-ING DRIVERS!
Finally conked out...LONG DAY!!!!!

We woke up refreshed, and happy and over all it was a great day, but we had definately as we say: HAD IT!

Today only reinforced the reason I don't throw birthday parties for Sam. We go somewhere fun as a family and have a blast! This year we are going to the Great Escape! I am so excited!!!!