Wednesday, June 8, 2011

New Geek Genre

Hi fellow self-proclaimed-and-proud-of-it-Geeks we have branched off our Geekiness into a new venue. One heavily influenced by the coolest Aunts and Uncle around! My big sister Trae has started her own etsy and blog dedicated to knitting! She has made some absolutely AWESOME creations so far and has blown us all away by her creativity. Please take a minute to check out her BLOG and FACEBOOK page and ETSY page to get the full effect of her newly developed (yet incredibly skilled) talent/geekiness!



Just a sample of some of her creations... I personally think the watermelon hat is very cute.

Ok plug aside, my own daughters have taken up this passion and are now spending hours on their projects. They can often be found watching the newest Dreamworks movie or Backyardigans with their little sister, needles in hand, knitting away. They are incredibly inspired by Trae and her insanely cute and amazingly unique creations, and are getting hands on training from their Uncle Beah and Aunt Hannah.

Kayden is very very proud of her first baby hat she made, and Kennadi is still working on her scarf. Check em out!

This image is always followed by an insistant grunt letting his sister know he wants what they have

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Big sister had a slushee...

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Saturday, May 28, 2011

New Geek on the Way!

Well folks, it looks like time waits for no one and neither does the Filler of Quivers, as He has so graciously decided it was time for us to have yet another little geek!

We were a little worried but as you can see from the US pic, there is only 1 in there... and ominously enough it is waving at us, as if to say "yup get ready for another little terrorizing beast of a child!" ... or maybe its waving it's fist defiantly at us saying "I will rule your world one day!"
Either way were excited!!! Rowan can't stop talking about the "new baby in momma's belly!"

We also had a wonderful vacation the week after Grayson and Kayden's birthdays. We went up north to Boyne Mountain (again) and enjoyed lots of rainy days!!
Thankfully we were able to get out between the raindrops and see the Sleeping Bear Dunes
And Petosky Beach


And a neat little Nature Preserve out by Harbor Springs


It was a very nice time and worked out well as it gave all of us perennial sickies a chance to get well which we have trying to maintain since our return!

Alas as our vacation was exhausting and the Motor City Comic Con was immediately upon our return... and we have a fixed budget which doesn't allow some of those niceties anymore, I did not venture out to the land of Novi and hang with all the supergeeks, and people who live their lives in a fantasy world this year.
Maybe next year!!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mother's Day!

A lot to post about from this weekend, but let me make this first post about the person that made this blog possible. The wonderful woman who brought me into this world, My Mom! Maureen Lynn Kimmel. She did all the hard work of bearing me, birthing me and bringing me up right!

My mom is one of those dynamos that was always up before everyone and working on something, whether it was for her or someone else, and then would be up late burning the midnight oil to finish either her project or some housework or task she had on her ever growing list. She also always had some sort of part-time job that she put alot of work into and allowed her to get us kids the nice things that she wanted us to have.

She has a definite knack for setting up fun times that become traditions. Fall apple picking at Irwin's Orchards, then the apple-pie-baking weekend once the apples were all picked, Easter bread making in the spring, Zoo trips in the summer, Planting and harvesting the garden, Sunday afternoon dinners, Birthday dinners (where we got to pick out everything about the meal). Its been fun to watch her transition these times into Grandma times with my kids as well. They thoroughly enjoy every time Grandma calls us with some fun idea she has cooked up for them.

Since the early days of part-time jobs and craft shows, Mom has turned a passion for cooking and an extrovert's personality into a profitable and beneficial business. As a Pampered Chef Director she does in home cooking shows and also contributes to many fundraisers. Of late she has partnered with a Kidney Research Foundation and has contributed a sizeable amount of time and funds to their efforts.
Past ventures of note:
http://www.sahshistory.org/Fund_Raising.html
http://www.childcarenetwork.org/DNN/Portals/0/Training/2009%20Thanks%20to%20Our%20Sponsors.pdf

Also a featured guest at the Michigan International Woman's Show where a local write-up in 2007 had this to say about my MOM!:
"On the Celebrity Cooking Stage, Chef Maureen Kimmel whipped up a delicious dessert in minutes. Kimmel, a busy mom of five, specializes in meals in minutes and has been cooking for Pampered Chef, a kitchen tools and products company, for 13 years.


“People want fast but not fast food,” Kimmel laughed while offering samples of her scrumptious-looking Double Chocolate Trifle to passers-by. “I call it gourmet cooking in fast food time.”


Kimmel, who mainly does cooking presentations on the weekends, revels in the freedom it gives her away from a full-time job.



“Most of the people that do this actually work a full-time job and this is something fun that they can do on the side, maybe to save for a vacation or braces or whatever,” Kimmel said.


The Pampered Chef, a company founded by Doris Christopher, seeks to empower women by giving them the tools they need to achieve a better balance between work and family. The company offers quality kitchen tools that make their customers more skilled in the kitchen, allowing them to make meals faster so that they can spend more time with their families"


Happy Mother's Day Mom!


P.S.
After reading this, my wife said "it sounds like an advertisement for Pampered Chef" to which I replied, "It's because I am proud of my mom and her accomplishments, many of which have been affected by her position in the company"