A royal treat

Official palace photo

Yes, I will admit...I got up early to watch "The Wedding". I got up about 4:45 central time - in time to see the royals to arrive at the church and the wedding. Kate's dress was breathtaking and William looked dashing. I would like to thank Prince Harry for almost making me cry. When he looked back at Catherine and said "What until you see her" with that big smile, I almost cried.

And the hats! WOW!!! Pick a color, shape or decoration and it was probably there. I think some of them defied gravity! (Beatrice and Eugenie!)

AP photos

That little girl was hilarious! She wasn't going to get in the car to go to the wedding then her covering her ears (and yes, I'm sure it was loud!) was SO cute! She will live the rest of her life as "the little girl covering her ears" in all those balcony pictures.

DD has caught pieces of the replays of the wedding and she has been in awe for the past 24 hours and consumed by all things British monarchy. She thinks Prince Harry's "crazy hair" is funny. She thinks Catherine's sister, Pippa is beautiful (and her dress was prettier than Princess Kate's). I told her I would buy her the Time or People (whoever puts it out) the Wedding book so she could ogle ALL she wanted! :) She told me this morning, she thought she would have looked good in the flower girls' dress and she would have done a better job than those flower girls. (Sorry - your invitation probably got lost between England and here...geez!)

And I really liked Catherine's evening party gown - VERY pretty! Camilla....yeah, not so much...

Finished

This sweater has been done for about a month but I didn't have pictures until now. The pattern is Crystal Lace Bolero (a crochet pattern) by Robyn Chachula. You can check her websit out at: Crochet by Faye. I used CotLin yarn in Linen from Knit Picks;

This is the front:

The back view:

The arm trim (I didn't go as wide as the pattern called for and am kind of glad I didn't):

This is my 1st garment project and am happy with how it turned out.

Photos by DD

Children's book!

For sale: Mom's Backyard Zoo My brother illustrated this book. I hope you'll buy it! :) Please spread the word. It is a really cute story!

Greetings!

Hi all!
First and most importantly - - - HAPPY GRANDPARENTS' DAY to all you grandparents, especially my parents and in-laws.
Second - I'm sorry I haven't blogged in a while. There's been lots going on and unfortunately, my blog gets shoved down the list of priorities. I try to stop by others' blogs when I can and see what you're up to.

Our work had a company wide meeting last week. We went to an outdoor camp that had an obstacle course. It was a GORGEOUS day! We broke into smaller teams and rotated through the events. I did the cable walk - you walk down two cables that get wider apart as you get further. Needless to say, we made it about 1/2 way on our first try before I totally biffed it (I still have the bruise on my backside to prove it). We tried it a few more times but didn't make it very far. It was a lot of fun and I got to see some of my co-workers I usually only see at this meeting once a year. Our guest speaker was former Chicago Bear, Jay Hilgenberg. He was an enjoyable speaker and really made you think about being part of a team and having the right attitude to get through life, work and whatever else.

DD & I got our dresses for DS's graduation and my brother's wedding this fall. Now I just have to get my arms in shape to wear that sleeveless dress!

I've been working on our son's graduation scrapbook and realizing my time to complete it is quickly running out! We finally got his announcement addressed this weekend so those will be going out this week.

I finished crocheting my sweater a few weeks ago (I still haven't taken pictures). I am knitting our daughter a sweater for dance class. And our son picked out his yarn for his socks he wants knitted (I'm a little nervous about that...)

Hope you're all doing well!

Real quick

Until I can catch my personal blog up...please go check out my photo blog: Jen Mc Photos I hope to catch up here this weekend. Thanks for stopping by! :)

Can I just say...

Major League Baseball officials SUCK!!! I hate the fact that it's hard enough to find the Cubs on TV when the Hawks & Bulls are playing. Then, I want to listen to the game via the computer but you can't do that because MLB wants you to PAY to subscribe to MLB.com to listen or watch the game there. WHAT?! Give me a break!

Reintroduction

Hi all! I have a few new readers (HI!) and several of you who have been reading for a while (thank you!). I'll intro myself quickly:

I'm Jen. I'm married to a wonderful man (known here as DH) and we have two kids - our son (commonly referred to as DS), a HS senior and our daughter (commonly referred to as DD) a 1st grader.

I enjoy reading, scrapbooking, crocheting & knitting.

I work full-time for an ag lending company (mainly doing customer service) and part-time at our local library (jack of all trades, master of none).

I love music - I have a hard time dealing with rap and heavy metal but most everything else is fair listening.

I am a HUGE Chicago Cubs fan (baseball). I am still waiting for the World Series...someday!

I am an amateur photographer - hoping to be semi-professional someday. (See my profile to view my photo blog )

For those of you on ravelry, I'm scrapperjen1. Feel free to 'friend' me. :)

That's pretty much me in a nutshell. Thank you all for stopping by - if you visit my blog, I'll visit yours too.

Why?

Why is it when you are acting silly you always get caught?

In a moment of thinking no one was on our level in the library last night - I was entertaining my co-workers with my Britney Spears impression (dancing & singing) and I turn around to find 2 girls standing there laughing. (Glad I could entertain!) Since when are kids quiet???!!!!

I did take a bow, by the way. (If you can't laugh at yourself, who will?)

Gratitudes

I would like to start this week on a positive note!

I am grateful/thankful for:

My family & friends
A beautiful weather weekend
Grilling for the first time this year
Some scrapbooking time
Baseball season is under way (Go Cubs!)
An upcoming photo shoot


Have a wonderful week!

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, Day 7

Yes, I know I missed a couple of days this week. Sorry... Today's topic for Knitting & Crochet Blog Week2011 is:
Your knitting and crochet time.
I spend most of my crochet & knitting time in front of the TV. It's easy to work on a project while 'watching' a show or movie. If I have a smaller, simpler project - I'll take it to work on while at a tennis meet or ballet lessons.

I once (to the horror of my husband) took a baby blanket to breakfast at IHOP - hey, there was time while we waited to work on it... :)

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, Day 5

Today's post for Knitting & Crochet Blog Week2011 is: And now for something completely different Dear Knitter: Sigh...it's been a few days since you at least added a row or two. Your daughter will be too big to wear me by the time you finish me at this rate. She looks longingly at the sparkly white yarn that sits next to your chair. Don't you see the yearning in her eyes, wishing I was completed? Please come and play with your yarn and sticks. Sincerely, Unfinished sweater PS: Happy April Fool's Day and Cubs Opening Day!