Mataam Fez

I took my friend out for a Moroccan birthday dinner at Mataam Fez.  If you have never been there and live in the Denver area you have to go.  It is quite the experience.  You sit on cushions on the floor for a five course meal and they entertain you will belly dancers.  I like the Bastilla and tea at the end the best.

Ninja Chase

Chase had his second Karate class this week and he got his uniform.  There is nothing like 5 year olds in Karate uniforms - so cute!  He has been taking his classes very seriously and he was very proud this week that he finished 20 jump ropes, push ups, crunches, lunges, and kicks.  To go along with his new hobby his favorite TV show right now is the old school Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon - turtle power!

Also my new favorite picture - just because...

Double Wedding Ring Hot Pad

The Sometimes Crafter made the cutest mini double wedding ring quilt.  I was inspired and had to make one too!  Here is the inspiration quilt.

Here is the quilt I made.  I used a free pattern off the internet and the only thing I didn't love about it was that the corner pieces were squares instead of a more diamond shaped piece so my corners didn't line up which was very frustrating to me.  The paper piecing idea to make the arcs is genius (very fast and easy) so I may just work on figuring out a better shape for the corners.

I used Insul-Bright and a layer of warm and natural batting in my version so it can be used as a table center piece / large trivet / hot pad.  Also I quilted this with a grid and I like the look.  Overall I really like the finished product - I am thinking about making them as Christmas gifts.

Jaxx's New Hobby

Jaxx has a new hobby - he has taken up lizard hunting.  He spends a lot of his time sitting in front of Speedo's cage.  He likes to bark at the lizard when it is out and about and he goes bonkers when I actually take it out of the cage.  The glass is going to get all icky with little Jaxx nose marks.

Speedo responds by opening his mouth and hissing at Jaxx...

5 Amazing Years

0 - WOW - what more can anyone say about that first special day!

1 - Mmm train cake...

2 - The year of the hat party...

3 - My favorite so far - superhero costume party!

4 - A day at the aquarium...

5 - Rocks and Fossils and Wolves - Oh my!

Nothing like celebrating a special day with a special kid and making memories that will last a lifetime.  Happy Birthday Chase - we love you so much!

I Miss Sewing

I'm sure you have noticed that there have been a ton of Chase posts lately - well the reason is because I haven't sewn, knit, or crafted anything since July!!!  Crazy huh?!

I did swing by Fancy Tiger the other day and pick up these two patterns so hopefully there will be more crafting coming soon.  I also printed and cut out the pattern for a paper pieced double wedding ring quilt.  I want to try a mini quilt just to try the pattern.

Happy Birthday Chase

Chase turns 5 on Tuesday so we had his birthday party today.

We started the day at the Florissant Fossil Quarry.  It was quite the haul out there but very cool.  They have pieces of rock laying out to dry that they pulled out of the quarry and you use razor blades to split open the layers of rock and "find" the fossils.

We found a few bugs and quite a few leaves.

Chase enjoyed smashing things with his rock hammer.

After that we went to a wolf conservation.

I think the boys liked the chickens as much as they liked the wolves / coyotes / and foxes.

The wolves were beautiful and had ferocious bites (you could literally hear them snapping the meat chunks being tossed to them) and beautiful howls.

Then we went back to the house for a party / snacks / cake.  Grammy and Pops brought quite the fun cake...

Chase blew out the candles while everyone was still singing.

And the best part - tons of presents - he was very excited about that part...this is the first year he has REALLY gotten into opening gifts...

Happy birthday to my wonderful boy!!!  I hope it was the perfect day for him.

Good Times with Friends

Mineral and Fossil Show

We went to the mineral and fossil show today. Chase had a blast gem panning and there were tons of cool things to check out.  We ended up with this lovely copper piece of art!  I'm in love with it - so modern, unique, and colorful!

Guess Who

Tough fellas...

Butterfly Pavillion

We hung out with my college bff today and had a great day. Chase made a new friend - it was amazing how well they hit it off.  Maybe some shared vacations are in our future...

Athleta

Maybe another shopping trip is in order

Athleta

I just discovered Athleta and I bought these adorable skirts!  Bring on boot weather!  There were a million other cute things I wanted - maybe next time - who needs work clothes when one can find elastic waisted skirts to wear!

I'm a Crabby Girl

(Stark's portrayal of how I have been feeling lately...)

On a less positive note I need a bloggy moment to whine.  Yes yes I know things could be worse and that there are other people out there who have things worse but I'm not sure that someone else's "worse" makes me feel any better about my "bad".  Besides everyone is entitled to whine sometimes right?

We have had one bad luck moment after another lately and I am exhausted and worn out.

Every time I think things are taking a turn for the better something else happens - talk about waiting for the other shoe to drop - how many dang shoes are there?!

So I have taken a "one day at a time" approach to life and I have managed to drag myself through some terribly long days (thanks to the help of family and friends)...It's funny how even when you don't think you have anything left there is always a tiny bit of something still there.

Now I am standing at the top of a hill and getting ready to move onward to the next day - hopefully there isn't another hill around the bend (at least not for a little while)!  Wish me luck!