#TBT and an App Freebie!

Hi guys. I realized I have been a very bad bad blogger. I have been super busy reading posts and catching up with all my vlogging peeps that I run out of time to actually post one myself! I will remedy that right now! Things have been busy in the Kimball household because I am craft craft crafting away for an upcoming baby shower! You saw me post a little teaser here, and I am going to give you a little more of a glimpse now too. I went to Beverly's to find a couple coordinating fabrics to go with the cute item I already made and it just put the baby itchy WAY into full swing.

It's not done, and but it's going to be a car seat canopy. Just needs the straps. Stay tuned
for a DIY on this puppy!

Here's just a tiny glimpse into all the materials that are going into this gift. If you didn't know me, I'll have you know that I HAVE to coordinate my gifts. They all need to work together. So I pulled some items from my stash and coordinated new fabrics with it! I will also throw in a couple of items off her registry just to tie it all together.

It's been chilly so we have been bundling up in our sweatpants and under all out blankies....it's what we do best. I went to leave for work and I caught our pup all snuggled up with them the next morning. I realized that I need to crochet her a little blanket for her bed with all my leftover yarn. She's an important part of our family and deserves her own handmade blanket from mommy.

In other news....if your an Instagramaholic like me then you'll be ecstatic to hear that Sephora is giving away the ABeautifullMess app for free. I put off getting it because I just didn't want to buy it, so I jumped on the chance to get it for free. I love the doodles and cute things you can add to your photos as well as filters too! I was able to do a Throwback Thursday with a dressed up photo from our wedding!

There are a couple of other free apps that I think you should check out on that link as well. Silk is pretty cool if you like to doodle! I hope you all are having a great Thursday. I need to run to the dollar tree tonight and pickup some items for D's costume. Tomorrow our friend is throwing a Halloween party with a twist on a superhero theme. Hopefully they turn out and I can get some photos! Be sure to follow me on Instagram to see them first!

Crazy pups and Plenty of Finished Projects!

Since Christmas 2012 was with D's family, although we is see my family, we needed to make a trip up north to have a weekend to exchange our gifts and just spend time with my parents. So, this past weekend we went up and spent some time with them. We got our pups re-acquainted and they played NON STOP all weekend. My parents puppy is a 10 month old boxer and full of energy. Our 5 year old ridgeback, with a leg sprain, held her own but they wore each other out both days.

We just enjoyed each others company, exchanged gifts and visited the construction zone that is the new house to see all the progress. We always have a wonderful time, albeit on little sleep because of the pups, and was sad that we had to cut out trip short because the snow and sleet started coming down and we couldn't get stuck.

I was also able to finish a couple of projects this weekend. A quilt top for my dear friends birthday at the end of the month, although the finished photos will have to wait until he receives it. As well as some denim baby bibs! Stay tunes for a tutorial on those babies later in the week, but I'll give you a photo preview!

Happy January!

Shelby vs the Thunderstorm

So this is our adorable "fur child." She is cute and cuddly and our most beloved pet! However, she has a problem with separation anxiety. She's a shelter pup so she always thinks that we are going to leave her forever. She panics and gets destructive. We've had crates for her, but alas our personal Houdini knew the weak points and was able to destroy the cheap wire crates within a month (give or take.) When we moved into our current apartment, we had a huge covered balcony with plenty of space for her to roam, watch the birds fly and get fresh air. It was perfect except she would scratch our door frame. We took precautions against this and put a baby gate up and some chairs to block her access to the door.

This lasted quite some time, until the strangeness occurred.  We live in southern California. The place of mild weather....however this year alone we have had some crazy thunderstorms. Very loud crashing thunder and lightning. If you have a dog, or have had once in the past, you know that they DON'T like thunder and aren't really fans of lightning either. As I am sitting at my desk, listening to the crazy storm outside I realized that I was going to come home to a mess. Little did I know what kind of a mess I was to experience. I walk up the stairs and see it. Then I see why it happened.

Somehow, she had gotten behind the baby gate and pushed the chairs out just enough that she had barricaded herself in a 3 foot by 4 foot little area. She panicked! Thus her desperate attempt to get into the apartment by means of scratching the shit out of the decorative stucco that surrounded our door and window. Apparently as a cost saver, the basic structure of these decorative pieces are not made of stucco, but Styrofoam, covered with fiberglass and then stucco. A little piece out of it, made it very easy for her to just shred the entire lower half. Of course this was in the midst of my chemo induced flu, and I had only been back to work after my procedures for 2 days. I was exhausted and now had to clean up this mess, call to schedule an estimate for repair, and then figure out a solution to house our puppy while we are at work. Just your average Tuesday.

Two and a half weeks and a big invoice later, the door is fixed and we found the solution. We affectionately call it puppy jail, because it is sturdy, metal and she isn't getting out of this one! No wire or plastic to be seen and it has been reinforced with u-clips just in case our pup could have figured out a weak spot. She had some lovely carpet in the bottom, that she has already destroyed, so she gets some toys and a blanket. D comes home every day at lunch (because he finally can now that he was transferred to a closer branch! WAAAHOOO!) plays with her, takes her out and gives her water.

In this battle it seems like she won against the thunderstorm, but not against the destruction war! We are fighting a good fight. Soon we will have a house with a proper yard for her to run, dig holes and just have a grand ole time. Until then, we will stick it out with the crate! Wish us luck!

A typical night

A typical night in our home consists of dinner making with the hubby, cleaning a bit, and either watching T.V. together, or getting in a bit of exercise. Afterwards we lounge with our pup and relax before pouring ourselves into bed to start the cycle over.  This particular evening, while I was on the floor doing my workout, I glance over at the couch and see D and Miss ShelbyDoo snuggling up. You can see how much that pup loves her daddy! It was so precious I couldn't help but snap a quick phone photo!

Happy Birthday Puppy and Operation Get Rid of Shit!

Ok I was going to post this on Sunday, but ran out of time. We had a busy weekend this past weekend. We went on Saturday and check three more things off our Bucket List. We went with Mr. and Mrs A, their baby girl and my mom to the Long Beach Aquarium, The Queen Mary and Bubba Gumps. I will post a longer entry and photo's about all of that.

Sunday was my and our puppy's birthday. She turned four! On Friday we went to Costco and bought her a new cedar chip filled bed and properly made it up with a throw pillow and her blanket in the corner of our room. She now sleeps like the princess she is. D also went and got us donuts to celebrate. Pup got a couple of donut holes (I know refined sugar, but she needed a treat!)

After that the fun really began. D whipped out the space bags we bought a month ago and we tackled part of the closet. We cleaned a little in their, under the bed and in a couple of drawers. We then made a stack for Goodwill and put the things away that we were keeping. My mom and I made a trip to Walmart to replace old socks and other things that were thrown away. Then to Sears to get her a carpet cleaner, to Goodwill to donate the items, and then to Target to get dinner. Once home we chatted a little and then mom had to head home. We said our goodbye's, went upstairs and prepped to watch a movie. The hubbs made me dinner and Root Beer Floats for dessert. We (the pup and I) couldn't have asked for a better day!

Shelby and the Cruciate Ligament

This post may sound like something straight out of Harry Potter. Alas it is not.

Ever since we moved, Shelby's (our 3 and a half year old Rhodesian Ridgeback) separation anxiety has progressively gotten worse. We decided, after door frames, torn carpet and anxiety meds....that she should go to doggy day care. My mother-in-law is usually home during the day so we asked her if it was ok if Shelby spent the daytime there so that she can have a safe, and most of the time supervised, environment outside. This past Monday I was playing with Shelby on our bed. After I walked away I heard a loud thud and when I returned I saw our poor baby lying on the floor. She had fallen off! I had her get up, and walk around but I didn't notice anything wrong. I kept an eye on her, but only a little favoring of her hind side came from it, so I thought that she was just sore. On Thursday, the hubbs was playing with her and we went outside and she wanted to run, so we let her run her little heart out. We finished our evening and went to bed. Friday we awoke and didn't notice any discomfort in her so he took her over to his parents and off to work we went.

At 1PM Linda (M.I.L) informed us that she was limping really bad, and wasn't putting any weight on her leg. Crap. She called my sister-in-law, who is in vet school, for a recommendation. After informing her all the particulars she recommended that we take her to the vet for a check up and x-ray. Our vet just so happens to own the clinic and is a family member. So I made an appointment to see him. Once we arrived, despite hardly any limping, (my M.I.L. and I were joking that she was faking for attention) we described her symptoms and he went to work. He told us a number of things that could be wrong, but that we should get an x-ray just to check and make sure that there was nothing wrong with her hips, back, or broken bones. Once x-rayed he came in to tell us that she had nothing was broken and her hips and back are fine. Whew! He then said that we need to watch out for her Cruciate ligament, which is the ligament inside the knee. If that ligament is ripped, then it means surgery. Yikes. Hopefully it's just a pulled muscle, but we have pain meds and are watching her carefully. No running or craziness for the pup for a bit. Our poor baby! We are hoping for a speedy recovery. She already feels normal and wants to jump and play, but we are airing on the side of caution as she is still babying that leg!

Dauro's come to visit

It was a wonderful surprise to hear from my cousin Anthony early Tuesday of last week saying that he, his bride Amy, and their baby (our Goddaughter) Charlotte wanted to have dinner with us! They were down from Coarsgold for a not so fun event and were going to be in Palmdale. I invited them over for Taco Tuesday and had them stay the night, of course so we could get more baby time in! They arrived with baby and puppy Wendy (a dauchund) in tote and we headed upstairs. Of course after a little direction mishap on my part. We had a wonderful visit, Darin and I played with Charlee and Anthony played with Shelby, and Amy got a break. I think Shelby has found a new best friend!

I Love You!

Around 10PM we put on Revenge of the Bridesmaids (not recommended!) and around 11:30 decided that it was time to crash. I must give my cousin's credit! Between a crying baby and a barking Wendy it was hard for me to crash out. But in the end it was worth it for them to visit and they can come ANYTIME! Darin admitted to me earlier that evening as Charlee slept on his chest "There's nothing better than this!" Well maybe soon my love, maybe soon. Enjoy the photos!

Ignoring the humans!