Showing posts with label Pittsburgh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pittsburgh. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

vintage wrapping paper


This paper came straight from Mexico with my relatives who live there and I don't know that it is vintage but I LOVE it's vintage look.


I also love that my family dug into my stash of vintage wrapping paper found at a garage sale a couple summers ago.  (Have I mentioned that Colorado Springs has amazing garage/estate sales for vintage stuff?) 




Fun scenes from under the tree for this vintage loving girl.  

Where do you like to buy wrapping paper?



unwrapping


front end loaders can carry scraps of vintage wrapping as well as dirt


Last year I got clearance wrapping paper at Target but was very disappointed in how thin it was and how easily it tore as I tried to wrap.  I was considering going to Hobby Lobby's after Christmas sales and when I was in Pittsburgh at a Marshall's I saw some really cute kraft paper with white polka dots which could be used for Christmas as well as other things.  I may have to stop by both as well as any suggestions you guys might have.

Kelly


Saturday, December 22, 2012

love this quote



So we've been in Pittsburgh visiting family and then they came back with us for Christmas! So fun!

One of the things that we got to do while we were in Pittsburgh is that Grandma, David and I went to the Children's Museum.

Pittsburgh happens to be where Mr. Fred Rogers is from so there were a lot of things in the museum dedicated to him.  

 I like this quote that was on one of the walls.

I struggle sometimes in playing *with* David but I dearly love watching him play and seeing/overhearing what he comes up with.

I am trying to learn the balance between letting him do his own thing and being right there with him.

Do you have any thoughts about play?  

Kelly

Thursday, November 3, 2011

creative reuse centers







Have you heard of creative reuse centers?

They're basically like a thrift store for craft supplies.

Pretty sweet!

I got to go to one in Pittsburgh and in addition to some crafting supplies for David and I, I picked up the vintage bingo cards above and the word learning flip books in the entryway photo.

Here is a directory I found of creative reuse centers around the States and abroad.

I'm curious if any of you have ever been to one and what the one you went to was like.

Kelly


Wednesday, September 21, 2011

happy fall!

My favorite season is here at last!

I look forward to seeing what it is like in Colorado.

What is your favorite season?

Kelly

photo taken November 2007 by Adrian in Pittsburgh

Monday, September 19, 2011

science center







One of the things we did while we were in Pittsburgh was go to the Science Center.

It was really, really neat. I would highly recommend it if you're ever in Pittsburgh.

David and all of the boys including dads and granddad enjoyed the huge model train set-up.

The water table area was cool and the fruit flambe shoe in the kitchen theater was fun complete with samples!

We had a great time!

Kelly


Monday, September 12, 2011

ten on Ten - September 2011

I am finally posting my ten on ten.

We spent the tenth of September in Pittsburgh, PA.

We had a great visit with family and even managed to get some of them in some of these shots.




Good Morning!


driving





smiling passenger



one of many bridges


the train at Wholey's

{always a fun stop even though I don't like to smell all the fish}



the end of a good lunch at the Pittsburgh Public Market



lunching together



a cupcake for later





hand holding


catching a nap


a mother/son scone bake-off and tea to share


ready for a date night thanks to aunt, uncle and grandparent baby-sitting



Pittsburgh's Little Italy

What did you do on Saturday?

Kelly


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Travel Tuesday - Pittsburgh, PA

Welcome to Pittsburgh!


Lots of people think Pittsburgh is dirty.

I think it used to be very industrial and smoggy but it is beautiful now!

This is a photo taken on an overcast fall day last November.

Do you see the reflexion of the bridge in the water?

I love to visit Pittsburgh, especially around Thanksgiving. Although springtime with the tulips blooming is quite magnificent as well.

Besides, where else can you can really great Polish food? (okay, I'm sure there are *some* other places but I don't know where they are.)

We like Pierogies Plus.


These photos were taken last Thanksgiving. We got pierogies, haluski (noodles and cabbage with LOTS of butter!) and sausage. Yum and double yum.

Have you ever been to Pittsburgh?

What do you like to do or eat there?

Kelly

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

s'mores

You may or may not know that I craved s'mores during my pregnancy, particularly 3rd trimester. I think I may have eaten one every day after school.

I ate so many that my sweet husband bought one of these for me. :)
It actually works surprisingly well and the compartment for water creates steam that helps eliminate the rubbery-ness that microwaved marshmallows can develop. Wow, is it crazy that I have this much knowledge of microwaved s'mores?

well nothing really beats the real thing over an open fire.

While we were visiting Adrian's family in Pittsburgh, one Sunday night we went out to the lake to take a swim and then have a cook-out. My father-in-law found these amazingly large marshmallows!

Look at it in relation to the graham cracker! Those suckers were huge!

The chocolate is already melty because we left the Hershey bars in the car a little too long. :) My mother-in-law kindly scraped them out of the wrappers and spread them onto graham crackers for us.




Have you ever been with someone for their very first ever s'mores experience? Adrian's cousin from England was visiting and we were able to introduce him to the American wonder that is s'mores!

Later in the week my mother-in-law had the brilliant idea to try nutella s'mores! Oh yum!

Do you like s'mores? What is your favorite s'more memory or occasion?

Kelly

p.s. I keep seeing those strawberry flavored marshmallows at Target and wondering if they'd make a good s'more. What do you think?

Oh and check this out from one of my favorite blogs: a whole post about s'more goodness!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

delicacy


"Dad's finger tastes good, Mom"

Saturday, September 4, 2010

father & son


I like these guys a lot!

Kelly

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

who I want to be

". . . his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers."
Psalm 1:3

photo by Edmund

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

picnic in the woods

"Among the delights of Summer were picnics to the woods."

photo by Edmund

Sunday, August 29, 2010

mother/son moment

There's just something I love about these photos.

This is my little boy who I have the privilege to spend my days with.

It is a joy and a lot of responsibility. He will learn a lot from me.

He is really showing himself to be a social kid. It has been on my heart the last week or so that I hope that he will continue to love people and not just to be social but that he will love people like God loves them. That he will shine His light on the people he interacts with throughout his life.

How do you or would you teach your child to love other people as Jesus loves them?

Kelly

photos by Adrian

Saturday, August 28, 2010

1st baseball game

We watched the Pirates beat the Marlins when we went to Pittsburgh from GREAT seats. (thank you Grandma and Uncle Edmund for picking them out)

Our little slugger loved interacting with all of the people around us!

Kelly

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

four months


What an absolute blessing you are to your Daddy and I!
We love you so much!!

I cannot imagine life without you and yet remind myself that all of our lives are in God's hands. You are ours to raise for His glory but not ours to cling to. You are His. He has graciously given us to each other to be family.

Your fourth month of life has included more travel - to Colorado and to Pittsburgh to visit grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, & cousins. You have already taken 10 airplane flights in your short life. You are a great flier. You usually sleep most of the flight but even when you don't you're just busy charming the flight attendants and all of your fellow passengers.

Two of the words that people often use to describe you are "strong" and "alert". Both of these make me proud. I pray that you will continue to be strong in the Lord and in His might and that you will continue to be alert as you grow in Him.

You have begun to laugh so much more! Daddy and I love to do things that we think will make you laugh. Kissing you all over, growling at you and even getting a tight hug have been known to make you break out into your great open mouthed laugh.

You are soo close to rolling over from your back to your front. You roll around on your back with both feet held tight in your grasp. You are enamored with your feet. :) It's really adorable.

You're teething. Lots and lots of drool, everything going into your mouth to be gummed HARD including Daddy's finger or anyone else's you can get ahold of, cute squeaky sounds on your pacifier as you chew on it . . .

We read your first book at the library. We sat in the children's section, you in your stroller and me on the window seat and read a Duck and Goose book. If you take after your Mama and Daddy at all I'm sure one day we will be checking out heaps of books from the library. You are enjoying books more and more and are happy to sit and listen to several in a row. Nana enjoyed reading to you when we went to visit her. You have also started handling books on your own. It is so neat for me to see you with a book in your hands. You chewed on Moo, Baa, La La La very enthusiastically last night while Mama and Daddy, Grandma and Uncle Edmond were eating our gelato.

You went to your first baseball game!! You loved it. Pirates vs. the Marlins at PNC park. It was a really nice night and you loved being out and about. You watched everything and seemed to take it all in. Grandma's arms were a great place to watch the game from. The only thing you didn't like was when we didn't think to cover your ears at first and the crowd erupted into LOUD cheers. That bottom lip stuck right out and big ol tears came.

You got to have some special times with Grandad, walking down to the busy corner to watch cars go by and going to see a train.

You got to meet lots of family members this month, your Aunt Mandy, Uncle Jeremy, cousins Caleb and Aaron, Uncle Edmund, Great-Granny, Grandad and cousin Alisdair.

You learned to love your bath and kick and splash all around. I think you cousin Aaron helped you learn this when we went to visit. It was so fun to see you guys together. You gave Aaron a couple of wet slobbery kisses.

Cousin Caleb was really cute with you. He would say, "He's really cute." and when you'd cry during dinner he go over to you on the floor and pat you and say "It's okay."

You went to a park for the first time. The first time you laid in the grass and the second time you rode in a swing with Mama holding you for a few minutes. You liked it a lot.

You continue to mostly sleep through the night. Traveling seems to mess up your sleeping schedule a bit. Ducca worked his rocking magic on you putting you down in Colorado one night.

You are very vocal making all kinds of coos and screeches and sounds. Sometimes it really does sound like your saying "hi".

You've got quite a grip on you and love to grab Mama's hair and Daddy's ears and our arms. You look like a little tree climbing baby when we change your diaper. You grab hold of our arm with both of yours and hold on tight.

You are very flexible. You go with Mama and Daddy all sorts of places, go to lots of different people and enjoy visiting. You are a very happy baby and we are so thankful for that.

If you're crying it normally just means that you want attention and interaction, you're hungry or you're ready for a nap. You still fight going down and keep at least one eye open as long as possible so you don't miss anything. You like to have your pacifier to go down for a nap.

You're a spit-up champ right now. Especially if you've just had a bath or Mama or Daddy is wearing nice clothes or have just had a shower, you keep things interesting. We've got lots of laundry to do. You'll grow out of this though.

You went to cradle roll for the first time at church. Your teachers said you enjoyed it, especially the little animals and things they gave you to hold.

You learned to put your paci in your mouth by yourself! That feels like a huge breakthrough.

You and Daddy watched a Switchfoot concert live on the computer and you really seemed to like it.

We love you, Little Man and look forward to watching you grow and learn even more!

Saturday, March 27, 2010

baby shower

We have been so very blessed to have been "showered" by people from work, church and many other friends. It is an amazing experience not to be entering this new journey of raising a little one alone!



As I pulled up to my friend Darla's house for our shower a few weekends ago, I just knew I was at the right place even though I had not yet been to this house of hers since she moved in. Check out the lanterns. :)


The whole shower was amazing with a "vintage modern" theme. Since it was a Saturday morning it was a brunch and everything was lovely!



The extremely cool drinks bucket I showed you earlier.
Jenny said she found this blog inspirational as she planned.


Donuts inspired by this post - see the strawberry iced ones? (light pink = strawberry, dark pink = cherry)


Mini quiche, sausage balls, mini zucchini muffins, delicious fruit . . . !









I love this vintage rattle leaning against the diaper cake!


and speaking of . . . isn't that an ADORABLE diaper cake?
My friend Jenny made it.

Lovely hostesses! Jenni, Deborah, Darla, (me), Jenny and Marla

I love how I know all of these amazing women from different parts of my life - my life in Dallas, college roomies, scrapbooking friends, sisters in Christ - and they all came together and threw this shower for me


Marla hostessing with the mostess!

They had a zillion neat touches from the things spelled out with blocks and all the little vintage toys to the April flashcard representing our due date and the "write" flashcard encouraging people to write a blessing for the baby . . . I loved looking around at everything!!

Speaking of blessings, people wrote out such wonderful blessings for the baby and for us . . .


AND my very, very most favorite part of the shower was this:




Everyone gathered around to pray for the baby and for Adrian and I as parents. I don't know who took this picture but thank you, thank you for capturing this moment for me in this way!




I felt blessed beyond measure and so at peace.

You guys are the GREATEST!!!


We got to visit and eat and chat, catch up with people and make new friends . . . and people took pictures . . .

and I got to open presents!

We were blessed with SO many wonderful things!! We are so thankful!

Look at this adorable elephant that has a crinkly tummy. :)



yea for a boppy!



and adorable receiving blankets with elephants on them and polka dots and stripes :)

Jenni made some of her signature burp cloths. Look how adorable and "me" these are!



and do you see that "Steelers" burp cloth peeking out of the box?

Who do you think will be using that one?


Sustenance to keep the everyone going . . .

:)




Such sweet friends!




Colorful giftwrap . . .




It was a lovely, lovely day and I am so thankful!

Kelly