Newspaper print facility tour

Late last week we took a tour of the Honolulu Star Advertiser printing facility on the Leeward side. All was quiet as they were in-between jobs, but as we were with young Cub Scouts, that was probably for the best. Walked away with an insider's look at the paper printing process plus rolls of blank, unprinted paper they could no longer use. Great for drawing and painting and map making and all kinds of things you need to cover your kitchen table for. Here's a quick collage I made of the pictures I snapped on the tour. I just discovered one of my photo apps has a collage maker. You'll be seeing more of these! Fair warning.

And another bunny

Here's my other Easter finish this Spring. The free pattern was found on the Whispered by the Wind site. It's one of three bunnies in their free pattern pages. I think I'll print them now so I have them handy for more gifts.

More Easter stitching

I didn't get my homemade Christmas gifts finished in time this past December. Considering we don't exchange a lot of gifts in my family, I really blew it because I didn't have gifts to give. I vowed this year would be better so to get working on my goal, I've already started my gifts. I've stitched up a couple Christmas-themed items, but took a break from reds and greens when I found some cute (and free again!) Easter cross stitch patterns. I am happy to report that two Easter gifts were not only finished early but delivered framed and in time for an Easter display! Woo hoo! One project that didn't get done was this little set of three Easter eggs that I was going to turn into a card for a friend. Oh well. Given my history, I'm going to say two out of three ain't bad.

Happy Easter!

It's a very lazy day around here. No soccer practice or plans of much substance. I know I have a laundry list of things to do...starting with the laundry.
A few months back, inspired by blogs I found online, I started working on a number of small cross stitch projects. I found an adorable (and free) Peep-like bunny pattern on the DMC site. I made it for my sister's family and gave it to her on Kauai. And yes, I actually finished it! Framed and all. I forgot to take a picture when I was done so here's what I snapped nearly there.
The colors are looking a little more vibrant than the actual tones; they're a little more muted and pastel than they appear. I couldn't find all the recommended colors on the pattern, so I just stood at the craft store and picked what I liked.

Kauai photo parade!

How much do I love iPhone photography? A lot! Here are more pictures from Kauai in early March. The picture of the sugar mill remains I shot and edited with one hand while I enjoyed a gelato with the other hand. :)

Kauai for the day

It's not just the kids doing cool stuff these days - I get to get out once in a while, too. My sister and her family were on Kauai in early March and I went over for the day. We spent a few hours seeing a few things near their hotel in Poipu, including a stop at a coffee company where we did coffee tasting. Sounds fun but it was actually a little strange. I can't drink scalding coffee but I kind of forced myself to as I went around sampling. My brother-in-law and I both left with burnt taste buds. Great concept though - but even better to be with my sister and her family.

Cub Scout Pine Car Derby

Another cool Cub Scout activity - the Pine Car Derby, an annual event for all Scouts. Boys get a kit containing one wood block, two axels, four plastic wheels and are asked to make a race car. Of course you know some parents take this over, but I was really happy to be part of a group that instructed the little kids to just make a bus. That involved only a little sanding and as much or as little painting as you wanted. It's too bad we didn't get the memo.
Missed instructions aside, Noel did have fun working with Robbie to make a sporty, high-gloss red roadster based on a pattern found online. (It's in the back row of the picture, about three or four from the far end.) If Robbie continues to enjoy scouting and stays in, I'll look forward to this event every winter. I wonder how many years in a row Robbie will produce a red car? :)

Fire station tour!

Robbie and his Cub Scout den do some pretty cool stuff! Of course, a big mahalo to the parents who put it all together. This past January they went on a tour of a nearby fire station. Firefighters were great and spent a lot of time with the kids. They got to do all the "traditional" things like hold the water hose, watch the tall crane go up and down, and sit in the driver's seat of the big trucks. Plus we got to go in and out of their living and sleeping quarters - even their locker room. I haven't seen this crew at Costco lately, but when I do I hope I get a chance to thank them again.

No fooling

We're here, we are really still here. Been a busy time since the Christmas holiday but the real reason I haven't posted anything is because I was simply too lazy to download a blogging app on the new phone I got back in November. Sad but true. All my pictures worth sharing are on it, so I decided to remedy the situation recently and I'm now ready to roll. Here's a picture snapped in our front yard minutes before taking off for soccer practice one Sunday afternoon in March. Yes, I'm a soccer Mom. Robbie said he wanted to play so we signed him up. Definitely my kind of team - one practice a week and one game a week. Both on weekends! Woo-hoo. And a short two month season. OK, so maybe I'm a soccer Mom "lite."
More pictures to follow this week as I play catch-up. Along with a blogging app, I picked up a couple of fun photo processing apps. I tweaked the photo in this post to make it a little more vibrant but it is pretty close to what you see with the naked eye. Well, maybe if you have the magical ability to blur the background when you view the world. Or just need new glasses. I also used my all-time favorite photo editing technique - the crop! I'm a master of the crop!