Breaker, Breaker, Heartbreaker

Don't tell Mr. Schatze, but I have love in my heart for another man.

He has eyes that melt your heart.

A smile that makes you concede to any request.

He is a hockey player.

A dreamer.

A Twins fan.

And was a sheep in the Christmas program at church last month.

This is Luke.  If you are hugging your computer screen now I will understand.

I went to high school with Luke's mom Carissa in Luverne.  Technically, Carissa is from Kenneth, MN. No, no. We like Kenneth.  Kenneth doesn't fall into that 30-mile radius of judgement like Adrian does.  Maybe because it's kids came to Luverne for school.  No, it is because Kenneth is awesome.

- Everyone from Kenneth can name each and every other citizen, all 60 of them.
- When we would play a game of kick-the-can in Kenneth, we literally played in the entire town of Kenneth
- I've never know Carissa's street address from Kenneth.  I just put the name, city, sate and zip and it gets there every time.
- On a side note, Carissa's dad helped me install a CB radio in my station wagon in their Kenneth driveway.  My handle was 'Midnight Rambler.' We can talk about that more some other time.

I digress.  When I grow up, I want to be Carissa.  She is boisterous, loving, motivated, inspiring, caring, compassionate, enthusiastic, funny.  I could go on and on.  The point is, I have a long way to go to be a Carissa.

When she was pregnant with Luke, her first, I wanted to give her something unique.  Carissa is a volleyball expert and played during college at Bethel.  I really wanted to make a baby volleyball uniform with replica bunhuggers, like we wore in high school.  Yeah, kind of crossing the line since they knew it was going to be a boy.  Instead, I stalked Luke's dad, Chris.  He is a hockey star and current assistant hockey coach for the Bethel Royals.  A replica hockey jersey was in the works.

Yep, this is a recent photo.  Mustaches are back in a big way.  Get on board people.

I tracked down Chris' college number and started sewing like mad.  I finished just in time to get it in the mail for arrival after her baby shower. Don't judge my time management.  

Since it was late, Chris got to help open the gift at home.  Way better.  My lack of time management paid off this time.

From what I hear, fans have a hard time watching an actual Bethel hockey game this season.  You know, since they are so distracted by the handsome drooler in the front row.

Thanks Luke, for distracting me for the rest of the day with thoughts of squeezing the cheeks of my favorite hockey player.  I can't wait until you can run around and we can compete in a game of Kenneth kick-the-can.  I know all the best spots for hiding.  You don't stand a chance.

This has been the Midnight Rambler.

Over and out.

Flashback: Back in the Summer of 2009

Back in 2009, three of my nephews moved into a new house. My sister was sick of taking care of them, so she got them their own place down the street. I kid. They all moved, but, for the first time, the boys got their very own bedrooms.

Initially, sister Sherri talked to me about painting mural/sports logo types of things on their walls as their birthday presents. After hashing out the details, we decided that paintings on canvas would be the way to go. Mission: Birthday Paintings for Nephews began.  Part 1: Liam.  That's right, Liam, the one that saved my butt on the Percy Jackson mural.

Part 1 actually includes 3 paintings since Liam spreads his love between 3 different teams:

New England Patriots (Boo!)

New York Yankees (The only interest I have in baseball is stadium beer and occasional updates on the roid scandal so Yankees Shmankees.  I don't really care.)

and

The Phoenix Suns (Yay!! WooHoo! My hometown team!)

I drew out the team logos on 18x18 canvases and painted away, while Mr. Schatze made a quest out of getting an artistic action shot. I should have shown more enthusiasm when I heard the click of the shutter.

  

August 09, approximately 4 months after Liam's birthday, I finished his paintings. Side note: I did not win aunt of the year for 2009.

I had the honor of personally delivering Liam's paintings which was a special treat for me.  It was a treat of bribed hugs and kisses if he ever wanted to get his gift. Scrumptious. 

Look at how cool he looks standing next to his paintings wearing a slight smile to show just enough joy while still looking hardcore enough to say that he could take you. So precious.

DIY: Fashion Frame

Let's cut right to the chase today.  Here is how you make the dry erase fashion board from Shreya's room.

1. Get a frame with glass
2. Print out a fashion silhouette
3. Put the paper in the frame
4. Use your dry erase markers to sketch out your next fashion masterpiece

Yeah, I know.  A whole post dedicated to that.

For Shreya's room we used the UNG DRILL frame from Ikea and spray painted it pink.

We made Shreya's fashion silhouette using her own head from a vacation photo.  Since the frame was larger than what we could print at home, I had it printed at Kinko's for about $5 on their large format printer.

But, if you want to print out your own, here are the free downloadable pdf files for the black fashion silhouette and the gray fashion silhouette with pony tails.  They are sized for an 8x10 frame. Merry 4th of January.

This really is a fun addition for your mini fashion designer's work space.  Or for your wife's work space.  

That was a heads up Mr. Schatze.