Garage Sailing....

This weekend we had lots and lots of rain! It was perfect! Saturday morning the girls and I went to the community garage sale... hence the title "Garage Sailing"... a-sailing we were.

This was the rain on the back patio.

Oh, how nice it was!

It was a perfect rainy Saturday

My babies loved it. Some had to move to the back patio because I am 99% sure my neighbor is trying to kill them.

Some of our garage sale finds...

Lite Brite $3 (it's a bit different from the one I had as a child)

the girls LOVE it and have spent many, many hours on it already. Emil too...

I found this set of lamps for $3 each! They work perfect. They are in excellent condition. I drove by this particular house three or four times and felt like I needed to stop by but didn't want to get out because of the rain. My intuition got the best of me. I stopped and I found these. I plan to decorate up the shades, maybe even new shades. I would like to see how I can personalize these. Any ideas?

Right now they are on each side of the bed. For now. I want to buy a sofa table and eventually they will go there in the living room under this big painting in the living room.

This is the shade that needs some decorative help!

The base. It's nice and heavy.

They are in really good condition. I am so happy I bought them!

I also found a cute picture frame for a dollar. It's espresso colored distressed wood. I love it! That will be the first thing on my sofa table....whenever I find one!
Emil and Lena knocked out on the couch Saturday afternoon.

Saturday evening we went to Lisa's house again to make sushi. It was so good last weekend we had to do it again. Lisa called me Friday and asked me if I would mind coming over again because they really enjoyed it and want more. I had just come back from the doctor (severe sinus infection) and wasn't sure I would be up to it. But I was.. and it GOOOOD!

Stas and Emil making the sushi

Lena playing drums on the ottoman

The girls....Lena, Sierra and Jenny

Sushi roll in the making

Jenny's parents Arkadiy and Rita.

The uncut sushi rolls

Lisa made ponsiy
It's a Philipino dish. I love it and hadn't had it since I worked at a different bank a few years ago. Much of my department was Philipino.

The deserts...

I made Kellys Velvet Red Balls. They were great! More on that experiment later!

Rita brought Tiramisu... another wonderful treat!

Jewish Nut Logs.. they were super good and raspberry filled! EXCELLENT!

Sunday we went to the bookstore and I found some really good books on homeschooling with wonderful links. I can't wait to implement those into my teaching plan for the girls.

If you are stopping by my blog and have any ideas for that bare lamp shade comment away... I would greatly appreciate it.

How was your weekend?

Sushi Night...lots and lots of pics!

Saturday night we went to Lisa's house to watch the Klitschko fight and show her and Stas how to make sushi. To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to certain people being there. I sure you can guess who. But anyway, I tried to put her.. I mean... those negative feelings away and focus on a good evening with good friends (minus one) and the evening turned out to be really, really nice!
There are a ton of pics, so be patient!
The pictures loaded from the last to the first so you can scroll to the bottom and work your way up if you like.
Jenny and Lena on the trampoline. This was the last pic of the night.

Me and Emil. In our 14 years together, this is our 3rd picture of us together. Seriously!

Gina (-), Lisa, me and Jenny

The girls Nella, me, Jenny on my lap, Lisa behind me and Gina behind Lisa

The man of the night... Vitaly Klitschko

Lamb and pork shishkabobs and our sushi.

We had every kind of sushi... shrimp, crab, avacado, spicy crab... it was delcious!

Ruben and Emil. Ruben backed into my car with his 18wheeler.. seriously. When he told me I thought he was kidding. Nope!

The boys, Ruben (red shirt), Stas (white shirt blue writing), Nic (red hat) and my papa bear Emil

Lisa, Gina and me...

picture of one plate of sushi

Lisa and me... 10 years of good friendship!

Emil and Lisa's husband Stas preparing the shishkabobs..

Can you smell it? Ummmm!!

Nic... Gina's (-) husband

Lisa and Stas

making the roll!

the sushi roll...one of many

Igor and Emil making sushi

Georgina and Emil

So all in all it was a wonderful evening. Klitschko won and made his opponent, Areola, cry. I love getting together with friends and relaxing and talking and laughing. Sometimes work can make us so crazy and preoccupied with other things we put ourselves on the back burner. Unwinding with good friends is just the prescription I needed!

Now, with that said....what is your favorite sushi?

Fun Start to My Three Day Weekend... (lots of pics)

My three-day weekend started off crazy! My girls make sure to never leave me with a dull moment! I just had to post these pics of them last night. Remember... this was at 1:30 in the morning!!

Fun with markers...
This is what CC did to Lena.

Got caught eating her cereal with her soy milk.

More of Sierra's beautiful artwork on Lena.

CC's turn.....

Lena's artwork on CC. The brown spot on her forearm is supposed to be a mole.

And.... this is what they do with MY bras!!!!

Since CC started eating a healthier diet and since the girls are homeschooled I have been wanting to take them to the local farmers market. This is one of the bigger ones we have here in. It's in the old Pearl Brewery located on the Riverwalk. I woke up early...because Charlie woke me up at 7:30! I HATE waking up so early on weekends. I rarely get to sleep in and when I do I REALLY, REALLY appreciate it. Anyway.... I called Mom around 8:30 and told her I was loading the girls up and let's go. Sometimes things are best when unplanned. All the produce is grown and raised within a 150 mile radius from us.

Mommy!!!

Mom bought this beautiful plant for only $10!!!

The weather was perfect.... a little windy.... excellent for people watching! And watch we did!!

Mom and Lena

Me and Lena

A couple of years ago I purchased a chocolate mint plant at an herb fair at Aggie Park. I placed it on the window sill in my laundry room and it blossomed and grew like crazy! Then all of a sudden it died! It was so nice in hot teas and salads. So I have been on the lookout for more. Mom was starting me one but this heat this summer killed alot of her mint plants! Sooooo..... I found this from a grower at the market for a whole $4!!! I was so excited! It was the last one left and snapped it up!

This live band was playing latin jazz. It was so nice!

Our people watching crowd!

Me and the girls...

Lena with her bouquet of flowers....

An old church behind the brewery. That's construction being added to the brewery for an art studio. I love the juxstaposition of the old, historic church and the new construction.

Me and Sierra on the second level of the brewery. The construction is behind us.

Mom and Lena downstairs.

When we got home CC gave Luigi a bath and then we went to look at more model homes. When we came home Emil was making sushi. I ate waaaaayyy to much. I always want to get a pic of our sushi but it goes to fast! I took a quick nap and then met Lisa at Starbucks. Lisa was treating... paid with a hundred dollar bill. They had no change to give her so the manager said the drinks we on her!!! Imagine that!!! We all (5) got drinks free! Of course I left them a nice tip. I chose the pumpkin spice frapp.... my goodness... it's nice to have those fall drinks back! Could it be? Could our summer actually be over? I am well aware that Labor Day marks the end of summer but here in Texas.....no! I have pictures of us in December....IN SHORTS!!!! How do you like that?