Inside The Present

You wanna know

What's inside Mandi's present? There was....One strawberry handstitched one-z and a homemade nature print skirt.

I don't have any little ones around, so Mr. Hippity Hop offered to be my model.

A second hand stitched watermelon one-z with flower print skirt. I even used a fancy stitch for the hem! These skirts are super easy to make and you only need 1/4 yard of fabric.


As seen before a little flying pig bank.


a monkey bib!


more bibs.

some burp clothes.

and a hungry monsters pop-up book!

Grillin

Easy summer recipe.

Chicken Skewers.

Wash and cut your preferred veggies.

Mushrooms are must and whatever is in the garden works fine.

drizzle olive oil, salt, pepper and mix.

Trim chicken cut in to 2" pieces and marinate. I like this Caribbean Jerk by Lowry's or the Kroger brand.

Grill skewers for about 10-15 minutes rotating every few minutes. If you use the wood sticks make sure you soak them so they do not burn.

Serve with Jasmine Rice.

Enjoy with a beer or two.

For dessert we had fresh watermelon.

And so did Pug.

Baby Shower

Mandi's baby shower was a hit. All the girls showed up, we ate wonderful food and enjoyed catching up! Mandi looked radiant and it was fun to see her celebrating all the goodness that comes with having a baby. She is due and August and I can't wait to meet her. Baby Cecilia I have a big hug and lots of kisses waiting for you!

The table was loaded with gifts.

We decided to forgo cards and get books instead. I love this idea for the simple fact that every time Mandi or Matt read our books to Cecilia she will know how much her extended Aunts love her!

The leaning tower gift. I will share the goodies inside for my next post.

Shower hostesses.

Me, Kristen, Prego Mando, Abbey and Lauren.

Lauren and Abbey.

Kristen and her Mom Betsy.

Kristen and Kyle.

The Leppert girls!

Mandi, her sister Kelli and her Mom Susie.

We missed Nikki Mandi's oldest sister!

Kelli, Mandi and Kristen.

Old roomies; Rachelle and Kyle.

Kim, Rachelle and Lauren sporting my baby bibs!

The whole gang. I am hoping someone will forward me a better picture. If so I will swap it out. This is a bit blurry.

Me likey Thursday!

Have you tried these?

you should.

Flying pig bank

A few friends and I are hosting our friend Mandi's baby shower this weekend, and I have been busy making gifts.

Below is the crib bedding that she has picked for the nursery.

Target has done a great job of updating the baby section.

Bananna Fish Bubble Gum set.

With that being said I painted a flying pig bank to match her room.

They both have participated in the flying pig marathon held in Cincinnati, so I thought this little guy was rather appropriate.

Lots of greens, yellows and pinks!

Before firing....

After!

I think it turned out quite cute, however the green is a bit too dark for me.

you likey?

Father's Day Loot!

First off I would like to start by saying Happy Father's Day to everyone! Especially my Dad, my Step-Dad, Denny (kinda Father in-law), Grandpa Kilmer, and Pug Daddy....

We love you guys and are so happy to celebrate having you in our lives, we truly are blessed!

Here are all the goodies wrapped up and ready to be shipped. Pug and I traveled to North Carolina for a long weekend to celebrate Father's day with Dave!
so do you want to know what is inside?

Dave's so his present was up wrapped with big bucks wrapping paper. Dave is an accountant so it makes it even funnier!

I started of with a few blank cards and began drawing custom Father's Day card.
I needed to make cards for Dave, Dad, Denny, Brad and Grandpa Kilmer.

Then I added a bit of color.

A few packages received a baby pug calendar. Brad thinks I am crazy. However I had a few requests this year. Plus snuggly is definitely cute enough to have her very own desk top calendar.

Next it was a pleura of cookies.

Peanut butter

Oatmeal Raisin

Chocolate Chip

My Mom helped me on Thursday night, I am very thankful for her graciousness. I am not sure I would have made it with out her even though her oven is very temperamental. We ended up baking and baking and baking some more. My Mom's cookie scoop is way too small and I should have re thought baking three kinds of cookies. Can you tell we were up all night? The mixing only took 45 minutes while the baking took four plus hours. ugh! But my Dad's are worth it.

cookies galore; and a few never ending cups of coffee...

ready to be baked.

Yum peanut butter.

In Dave's package he unwrapped a fun croquet set. Too bad we didn't have time to play. Next time for sure!

I sent my Dad a few movies. He and my brother Justin love watching movies together.
I hope everyone had a great Father's Day. You all should be receiving your packages today, enjoy!

-xoxo-

Kitty and Pug

I Am Fixin To Go South....

Heading south yet again.

Yep, I packed up Pug and headed down to my Mom and Dad's for a long weekend to celebrate Father's Day. This time we had a bonus guests. My brother Jeff, his fiancee Christina, her son Jackson and their brand new pup Jager were coming too. I took full advantage of the super cheap air fare and flew down to North Carolina Wednesday night after work. My brother and his family drove ten hours... and I am so glad they came.

Pug drying off from the a long swim, such the Southern Bell.

Meet the newest member of the family, he is a begal/boxer mix named Jager. Jeff and Christina think he should stay pretty small, but I am not convinced. He is super duper cute either way.

Puppy cousins playing, and playing, and playing. They were dog tired by the end of the day.

We swam until we looked like raisins and I think Jackson is part fish.
He also learned to swim in a day in a half! We had to perform a couple near drowning rescues the first day.... just a bit scary! Water wings were on the list of thing to buy immediately.

The boys and my Mom fished all weekend. They caught at least ten fish a day, maybe more.

Jumping Jellyfish!

Even the puppies swam. They both would swim along the brick wall and floated on rafts like pros.

Drying off.

They caught a big one, and Jackson even reeled him in.

More fishing on Kilmer Lake.

We even saw three other boats out on the lake; never, never, never, do we see other people out on the lake besides ourselves.

Jackson and his pup, he is such a good kid. We are glad you came Jackson!

Relaxing on the deck. Christina was trying to fit home work in, but it was too tempting to just hang out. She is headed to school to become a nurse. Jeff should be so lucky he is ALWAYS injuring himself. Christina we are glad you found my brother, and decided to keep him around!

I read my book and Jackson played on his Leapster.

A view from the deck, can you believe it reached 100 degrees? We set up our chairs right by the water so we could jump in every few minutes to cool off.

Jackson and Dave were best buds right from he start.

Saturday night we ate at Mc Call's. Mc Call's is a buffet style southern extravaganza of food goodness. Sorry the pictures are so small, I forgot my camera. My favorite item is the vinegar pulled pork, so so so good. I am not a big fan of the normal BBQ sauce, which is weird I know, but North Carolina BBQ is something I look forward to eating. Other favorites included the fried chicken, collard greens, shrimp, fish, clams, hush puppies and yes a little bit of salad bar. I am so glad I do not live in North Carolina, the food is so good and so bad for you...

Do you want to know what Jackson and Dave's favorite part was? the Dessert bar; ice cream with all the toppings, banana pudding, corn bread cake to die for, chocolate pudding and cobblers galore. Jackson had four small bowls spread all over the table so he could try one of each! I can't lie we all indulged in more than one for sure.

We were all full and slept well.

The next morning Mom made french toast, cut up fresh fruit and cooked sausage.

Then we swam some more....

Jeff grilled steaks for dinner, a hot dog for Jackson, we whipped up home made potato salad, and corn on the cob.

We played with chalk and bubbles.

Then played with fire works and as you can tell we all got a little too much sun.

The only thing missing was brad; you see the space where we could insert him.

Too bad he was having his own fun fishing in Michigan with his buddies.

Jackson writes songs, and they are way better than anything I could ever write. That's why I stick to drawing, and taking pictures. Maybe Christina will forward the song to me and I can share it with you.

I made fresh strawberry shortcake for dessert, and as you can tell Dave made a giant strawberry shortcake. He has a weakness for desserts. Oh well it was super close to Father's Day. Eat it up Dave!

I have also decided that I really enjoy making food for more than two people, it makes all the effort worth it.

On Sunday Jeff got up and fished, I made spinach, egg and ham strata
An excellent recommendation from Darby's blog. Jeff and his family packed up and left around 11:00 am, ready for their long ten hour drive home. They will need to stay longer next time.

I gathered our belongings and packed up pug so Mom and Dave could drive us to the air port for my five o' clock flight.

Another vacation over too soon.
Sadness. However Pug and I were ready to home and see our Brad.

Hope you had great weekend and a Happy Father's Day.

What We Do On The Weekends.....

On the weekends we meet up with our cousins, the Iori's and sit poolside at our local YMCA.

We pack our lunches, Amy saves chairs for us at noon when they open.

Brad and his nice Hannah stand in line for the slide to open. They dive for rings, Macy jumps off the side and I read my book.

We all relax, get some sun and spend the weekend together. The pool is much more fun with more people. By the way they call Brad the snail because it takes him so long to get ready!

the deep end.

a sunny view.

the giant slide.

Macy snacking on an apple.

I told she looked like Paris Hilton here...... bathing beauty.

Little Monkey towel. Brad tried it on last week I think he might need his own.

Because I Like It

C. Booth by Delicious Brands

I have been turned in to a C. Booth junkie by my friend Kim in Chicago. I get them at Wal-Greens and they have been on clearance lately which scares me. I have a small stock pile hidden in my closet in case they drop the line. Otherwise I will be forced to order online.

Below I have a few of my favorites. EVERYTHING I have tired I have LOVED!! I have included their marketing descriptions because I could not have said it better my self.

My number one pick! (even Brad likes this one)

Limoncello Body Cream

This all-over hydrator is an intriguing contradiction, rich in heavy-duty emollients to moisturize and protect skin, yet graced with the fresh, light scent of just-squeezed lemons. And while limoncello is a lemon liqueur produced in Southern Italy, the alcohol content of this body cream is 0%.

Wal-Nut Shell Scrub and Body Wash.

This one feels amazing and smells like a cupcake.
If you're a nut for healthy skin, this is your body scrub. Soft lather and gentle cleansing ingredients leave you clean, clean, clean. Walnut shell powder that whisks away dull, dead skin to leave you smooth, smooth, smooth. The toasted-nut scent makes even the inside of your head happy.This one is amazing when you are sick!
Breath Easy Body Wash (or bath soak)

Eucalyptus, spearmint and menthol make this invigorating body wash a cure for what stuffs you up, even if it's just the cobwebs in your head.


For the lazy girl who doesn't have time to put on lotion...
Dry Oil Spray

This aromatic body oil is loaded with Monoi, a blend of rich coconut oil and the natural essence of tiare flowers that's been the beauty secret of Tahitian women for centuries. A luxurious daily moisturizing spray that makes your skin glow, it also doubles as a massage oil. (Pssst! It's "moh-NOY.")
Did I mention the have a stellar marketing team??? Are you hiring? My creative services can be purchased....

Now get in your car, drive to Wal-Greens, pick up the Limoncello body cream, put it on, then be happy all day.

As promised....

So for the last two weeks I have been extremely busy at work. I have logged at lest 50- 60 hours each week. We are busy working on our Target Easter line for 2010. Our deadline is today so hopefully we will slow down and I will be able to enjoy my summer.

Anyway in the evenings or what I left after a ten hour day I have been creating a few things....

My next bib creation, another baby gift for my upcoming shower.

The elephant is so cute, this might be my favorite one so far. I found the rick-rack at Jo-Ann's in the dollar bin. The color was perfect and the yardage with exactly what I needed. A great impulse buy!

Here they are as a pair. I have another one in mind, maybe with a monkey. Stay tuned.

Lastly a few burp cloths.

We have been spending a lot time at the pool this year. I am a member of the local YMCA and we now have a few cousins that belong which makes it even more fun. I will save this for another post.

Have a great weekend!

For Pugs Sake!

On Tuesday night, Brad and I typically host a grill out and listen to the Reds on the radio. We can have anywhere from one to twelve friends that show up.

This week we hosted Nick, Amanda their puppies Dalton and Dixie.

For starters Nick graciously brought a vegetable try with dip. I picked up southern style crab dip with a new Triscuit cracker; cracked pepper and olive oil. have you tried these yet? sooooo good!

Then we dinned on beer-can chicken marinated with fresh herbs from our garden (Brad was excited because beer-can chicken is his favorite thing to grill and he got to use his herb garden.) We also filled up on fresh green beans, stove top stuffing and a few much needed beers. We enjoyed a relaxing dinner with our friends while the dogs chased each other around the backyard. The dogs kept hanging behind the grill which we assumed they were just licking up a few grease spots.... WRONG!

As we were eating, thunderstorms were beginning to roll in. We soon noticed that the pugs head was all wet and matted. This is very weird since she does not like the rain.... Brad even commented that her little head was so wet that she looked like a baby seal caught in an oil slick. Again we dismissed it and assumed the other dogs enticed her out for a romp in the yard. WRONG again!

Finally we figured out that they were behind the grill because they had dumped the grease trap and were enjoying a stinky, greasy roll in the grilling remnants. It is hard to tell from the pictures but when I wiped her head with a paper towel it looked like I had wiped up a frying pan after cooking bacon. NOT FUN!!


Baby pug caught in an oil slick.

Cleaning up the after math.

Besides the extra cleaning we enjoyed a nice dinner with our friends and learned a good lesson.

Sunny And Hollander filled Weekend!

We had a sunny and fun filled Hollander weekend. We started off on Friday with Andy and Allie's wedding. Andy is brad's cousin. We picked up our other cousins Amy and Joe and meet for a quick happy hour before the ceremony.

They held a small outdoor wedding at Ault park in the east side of Cincinnati. Andy and Allie lucked out and had the best weather any couple could ask for; blue skies, sunny, and warm with a small breeze. The ceremony was quick, personal and very nice.

Next we headed over to New Port, Kentucky for the reception which was held at the The Syndicate. This use to be an old bar which I may or may not have visiting in my college days...

Anyway, they have turned it into a wedding reception and let me tell you how much fun we had. The food was excellent and it was even better than more expensive weddings that I have attended. The menu included prime rib, mashed potatoes, salad, rolls, cheesy broccoli, pasta, and chicken. We had our own server who was very pleasant even though he got stuck serving the rowdy group. It was open bar which is perfect for the Hollanders, and the best part was the dace floor! It was located in the center of the room and you had to go down two or three steps, which made cozy. Due to it being an old bar you could watch everyone dancing from above and in the VIP room.

Kitty and Brad.

Joe and Amy.The Hollander girls (Denny on the table)

Let me warn you this was the beginning of the night....

The Hollander men and Pauline.

Joe and Shawn up to no good....

The end of the night....
We ended up dancing all night long with Brad and Courtney both complained that their legs hurt from dancing so much.

Saturday we meet up with Amy, Joe, Hannah, Macy and Andrea for some pool side sun at the YMCA. Later that night we then decided to grill out steaks, crab legs, asparagus, and corn. Yet another yummy meal enjoyed outside on the back patio. We were all exhausted and went to bed rather early that night. I should have taken some pictures of us indulging in dinner right before the thunderstorm. Hannah; Amy and Joe's daughter tried crab and really like it. Watch out Joe, dinning out just got a bit more expensive. We didn't get wet in case anyone was wondering.

On to Sunday; we had more gorgeous weather that we took full advantage of. Our friends Leah and Mike have a pool in their back yard so we all met up for an impromptu too backyard pool party. Again Amy, Joe, Macy, Hannah, and few other friends gather at the Nobel's house for a rib cook off. The boys found a smoker a couple of weekends earlier for $15 at garage sale. They are so proud of the fabulous find that they kept the price tag on it.

Needless to say we had a great weekend! I promise to get better at taking more pictures to share with everyone.

Hope you enjoyed your weekend too.