I passed

At the beginning of December I took a level 5/6 judges test. I can't wait to practice at meets this coming season so that I can judge on my own. I have been wanting to judge for years but never had the motivation to study and try the test. Thanks to Mika and Danica for all their help!

Funny story about the results. They sent out an email that said I failed. I was so embarrassed. The test was hard but you only had to get like a 70%. Then like half an hour later they sent out a second email letting me know that the previous results were incorrect and I passed!

New Sewing Machine!!!

This baby can sew through almost anything! I am a little intimidated by the thing. The motor is super strong and could easily sew through a finger!

I can't wait to start making seatbelt purses! I am so excited.

Dog Rescue

So we went on a road trip and came home with a dog. We were ate my aunts house and their dog was sitting out in the snow. The dog was nothing but skin and bones. So we asked if we could take her. They didn't want her and clearly weren't taking care of her so now we have a new dog. She is a German Short-haired Pointer and her current name is Sally. We want to call her Kiva. She is really thin so we are trying to fatten her up. She is really awkward because she has been neglected; she doesn't know what to do when she is in the house or walk on a leash. We think she is 3 years old but are not sure.

The we in this post refers to Ginger, Javier and I. Just wanted to clarify for some of the readers out there!

Just a few things I love!

Thanksgiving 2009

This Thanksgiving we spent 3 days in Tucson. The entire Sykes family attended.

Thursday - Ate a terrific dinner from Marie Calendars. Sunshine did all the preparations and made the pie and sweet potatoes. Ginger made some stuffing and I made broccoli salad. We took all 5 dogs on a walk. Then we spent the rest of the evening playing Rock Band, Funglish and Wits adn Wagers.

Friday - Went to Target. Ate left overs. Went to the park. Napped. Played Rock Band, Scrabble, and Pictionary.

Saturday - Rented a 15 passenger van. Went on a trip to the Chiricahua National Monument and did the Echo Canyon Hike. It was windy and cold. But a beautiful hike. Ate dinner at Olive Garden. Played Rock Band and Carcasonne.

It was 3 days of complete Chaos. There were 15 people sleeping in a 3 bedroom house and 5 dogs. There were multiple melt downs and fights among children and adults. I think it was one of the best Thanksgivings yet!

Memorable Moments

• Long Butter
• KC running away 3 times and peeing and throwing up all over
• Smiley face balloons
• AFI Girls Not Grey
• Pretending to hold up rocks

Penguin Fun!

Sewing For Charlotte

All of these outfits are too big! I hate that patterns are so bad at sizing. Charlotte is still wearing 12 month clothes so it is frustrating when nothing I make fits her.


Boutique style

Wide leg pants will be great to play in!

This dress will look spectacular with black leggings.

This jumper is going to be so cute with a pink shirt, tights and black shoes.

Arizona Museum for the Youth

This is my favorite picture from our visit to AMY, she loved this bed. She kept lying down in it and pretending to sleep.

Last Chance Saving

$89.99 - I paid $9.97 (dog collar)

$60 - I paid $7.97


$108 - I paid $12.97


$220 - I paid $12.97

$39.99 - I paid $12.99

So here is some of the stuff I got at Last Chance today. I also got a pair of Coach shoes, a cute light weight jacket, 2 dresses for Charlotte, tons of lace socks to wear under flats, underwear, some Sassy toys, a bra, scarf and Roxy shorts. I spent a total of $160. I can't imagine paying full price for this stuff.

I love this Photo Filter!

I love my Charlotte when she sleeps!

Van Robber

So the other day we got into the van and the hazard button fell out of the dash. Martin of course blamed me and I blamed the auto body shop (our car was just fixed). We looked inside and nothing was gone out of the van. The navigation, DVD player, stroller, car seat, and other random trash was still intact. This morning Martin went to fix it and what do you know a handy screw driver was laying on the center compartment. We figured that something must have scared the robber away. Really who break into a car and doesn't even take anything!

New Online Store

I would like to announce the opening of Irene Bug. My new online store. So far all I have listed is some flower hair clips and a quilt.

http://irenebug.ecrater.com/

Dog + Baby = Win

Chaos is wonderful!

Finally finished a seatbelt bag!

So I have resorted to hand sewing seatbelt bags. I will seriously go out of my way to use a machine. But after months and months of seeing 5 bags 1/2 finished i have decided to hand sew the seatbelt bags. If you are interested in one just let me know the dimensions you would like and the colors. I have black, silver blue and dark blue; and I can pick a lining or you can request a color. This one is a laptop bag and was requested to have no pockets.

email: thesewingsector@gmail.com

Cousins

Shundeen, Gigner, Debbie, Charlotte, Sunshine, Izel, Soraya

We took this pictures in Tucson on a visit with our Grandma Irene. It was nice for us all to get together in Tucson. We used to spend summers just the 3 of us (Sunshine, Gigner, Me) and Grandma. Sunshine now has 3 kids(Shundeen, Izel, Soraya) and I have Charlotte. Ginger is baby less but will someday break up the girl gang with a little Javier!

I have a 1 year old!

Sometimes I still can't believe I am a mom and now I have a 1 year old. This last year has been amazing and exhausting! I never thought motherhood could be so much work but it is worth every minute of it. I have loved all the trips we have gotten to take with Charlotte. She has seen Florida, Ohio, New Mexico and California. She has been camping, hiking, to the beach and loves to swim. I can't wait to be there for her future experiences. I seriously think she is the cutest baby in the world and I love her so much!

Charlotte and Soraya(2).
I can't believe how much she is going to grow in the next year.

Introducing...

KC P Sector. She is She is part King Charles Cavalier and Pomeranian and she is 6 months old. So far she has been a great dog. Needs some work on potty training but loves to play with other dogs and is great with Charlotte. I have been wanting a dog forever and am so happy we finally found such a great companion.

Camera is back!

We are too cheap to pay for cable and we watch most TV shows on the Internet. For the past 2 years Martin has tried to find the best way to watch good TV using our Network. This past weekend he bought a new Router. From my vague understanding that will make our Network work fast; transferring files from one of the 6 computers we have to another work faster. So this is how our living room looked this weekend. I think I am very tolerant when it comes to Martin's messes. He cleaned it up pretty good, it all fit in a Tupperware, in his mind that is cleaned up (So we have hundreds of Tupperware filled with junk in our garage).

This was a picture of the mess taken by Martin, after this was taken the camera disappeared.

Under the box, where the red rectangle is is where I found the camera.

Also this project is still not done!

I would also like to note that he did not dust before putting the TV back...just noticed.

I love you Martin!

Closets

The past weekends have went like this:
-added shelves to both linen closets - meaning everything in closet is out of closet
-went to California - didn't finish closet - everything still out of closet
-Ginger came to visit - didn't finish closet - everything still out of closet
-Martin went to California - didn't finish closet - everything still out of closet

So yesterday I finished the shelves, today I filled them and my life is now partially organized again. I feel slightly better about everything. Now if that stupid garage would just empty itself into a black hole!

Seatbelt Purses

So my husband works at a seatbelt company and he brings me lots of seatbelt home. I made a couple of trash purses but it wasn't until my friend Kari helped me out that I really got inspired. So I made like 4 bags but can't finish them now. They get to thick and I can't sew them. Martin got an old industrial sewing machine from someone he works with but I can't figure out how to thread the stupid thing. This whole thing is frustrating and I give up. but here is a pircture of one bag I almost finished. I like the solid ones best but this on is alright.

Roses

I got four dozen roses on Tuesday for our Anniversary. They are the exact same roses we had at our wedding. I love them. I also got some perfume; Vera Wang Princess. On Sunday night we went to Kona Grill and I forced down some sushi. The other night when we were on a walk Martin asked me, "What are 3 things you have learned about me in the past 2 years?"

My response about him
1. You don't know how to clean
2. You are incredibly handy
3. You are overly logical about almost all things

His response about me
1. You can sew
2. You are practical
3. We work well together on projects

I don't think that those responses where what either of us were expecting but they are definately the truth!

Santa Monica

This past weekend we visited Ginger and Javier in LA. We went to the beach, shopping and hung out. When we went to the beach we didn't bring our swim suits and ended up wanting to go in. So we got new swim suits at the beach. The water was too cold for Charlotte, so she staid on the beach with Ginger and Javier.

Fabulous Pink

This morning I woke up to pink hibiscus flowers. I love them!

Knitting

So at Christmas I learned to knit. I got some yarn from a little shop in downtown Ohio. I finally finished my scarf but I didn't have enough yarn and it is too short. I guess it can be a little kid scarf or a cat scarf LOL.

Coordinating Starfish Set

I made these coordinating pieces for my mother-in-law to give to a family as a gift. The dress is for the 9 month old girl, the tote is for the mother and the shorts are for the 3 year old boy.

If you want me to make you a coordinating set just email me doodlebug@gmail.com

Florida Pan Handle

This week I took a trip to visit my grandfathers family i n Florida. We stayed in Quincy and Pensacola. I ate way to much southern cooking, went fishing and visited the beach.


This is a store that my great uncle owns and operates, well now his son does. They have a crazy butcher shop. They had all sorts of pork parts and 10 different kinds of corn starch . They cater to southern cooking.

My great aunt has a boat house just outside of Quincy, Florida. We spent one day fishing with cane poles . I caught 3 turtles, a needle fish and some brim. We didn't keep anything.

On out way to Pensacola we stopped on the side of the road to pick strawberries. You could eat them off the plant. They were so good. I think I ate a pound.

On our way to Pensacola we also stopped at Panama Beach to stick our feet in the sand. I love Florida sand, it is white and fine.

The last day we stopped at the Pensacola Beach, Charlotte loved to eat sand.

Where's Debbie?

This weekend we went camping in Joshua Tree National Park. It was our first camping trip as a family. I loved it!