My No Sew Fleece Blanket

I finally finished my no sew fleece blanket tonight. I bought the material back in December when we were in the states and I've been putting it off for the past six months. I don't know why. It was incredibly easy. The material cost about $18. If you keep an eye out you can usually find pre-cut kits for about $25, but most of them have children's prints or characters on them and I wanted something different. I apologize for not taking pictures at each step. You'll have to accept my crude drawings as a substitute.


All you need to make one is:

• 2 equal size pieces of fleece (you can make it whatever size you want, but keep in mind they width of the fabric is usually 54" so if you want a bed sized blanket there will have to be some sewing involved) I believe I got 2 yards of each color
• Scissors
• (optional) measuring tape and pins

Lay the two pieces of fabric on top of each other good sides out. The ideal place would probably be a large table but my table was full of clutter and I didn't feel like cleaning it off so I used the bed. If you do it on the bed make sure you don't cut your comforter ;) Trim the edges to cut off any raw edges and make sure they are straight. 
Then cut a 3-4" square from each corner. I cut the first corner and then used the cut piece as a pattern/guide on the other 3 corners

The next step will depend on how anal you are. My mother and law explained how to measure 3-4" in from the edge all the way around and use pins to mark every couple inches. I just eyeballed it using my cut corner as a guide. Cut a fringe all the way around the same depth that you cut the corners to. They can be as wide or narrow as you want. They don't even all have to be the same width if you want a funky look. Just make sure they are all cut the same depth. 

After you have cut all four sides you can start tying the two pieces of fleece together. My single knots all came out so I would suggest a double knot. As an alternative to knotting the fringe you could sew around the edge with a sewing machine and leave the fringe unknotted. I may try that next time. 

When you are finished you have a super warm and cozy blanket to cuddle on the couch with!

Memorial Day in Europe

Today was Memorial Day and so we paid tribute to our fallen servicemen by making a day trip to St. Avold, France to visit Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial. 

Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial is the largest American World War II cemetery in Europe. The French government granted free use of the land as a permanent burial ground without charge or taxation as a thank you for liberating the surrounding area. 

There are 10,489 graves (10,487 according to their brochure), (151 of them unknown servicemen.)  The wall of the missing contains the names of 444 soldiers and airmen missing in action. As we viewed the graves of these long dead veterans I couldn't help but tear up a little. We stayed, hand over heart, while retreat was played on the bugle, the flag was lowered, and the canon was fired. It is a beautiful and peaceful place for those laid to rest there. I am thankful that they sacrificed so much so that I can have all that i do today. 

Thank You!

Friday the 13th

Today is usually associated with horror movies and bad luck. As someone that sometimes has a birthday on friday the 13th I don't worry about it at all. 

I had a great day. We spent the afternoon at the park and the kids played in the wading pool. The Tangled DVD that I ordered back on March 24th finally showed up in our mailbox today as well as the new lid for my laptop. (Have I mentioned how much I like getting things in the mail? I just hate waiting for them.) Then our 4 car caravan headed out to China Restaurant Dynastie in Idar Oberstein. If you're looking for a good Chinese buffet in Germany I would definitely recommend this place. You even get to choose a piece of free jewelry when you pay! 

Happy Friday the 13th!

League of Her Own

"Baseball, to me, is still the national pastime because it is a summer game.  I feel that almost all Americans are summer people, that summer is what they think of when they think of their childhood.  I think it stirs up an incredible emotion within people."  ~Steve Busby, in Washington Post, 8 July 1974

 We had our second practice today. My daughter is super excited to get to practice, but once we get there she gets bored pretty fast. I never played t-ball or baseball or even softball when I was growing up so it doesn't remind me of my childhood, but there is something special about watching your child TRY at their very first sport (even if she's not very good at it and would rather play with the dirt.) At three and a half it's oh so cute. I want to at least give her the chance to see if she likes it and give her time to get good at it (if that's what she wants). They are really just learning fundamentals at this age. They don't start real games until they are five. However the coach did dangle the hint of a possible game at the end of the session. I've seen these children at practice. That would be hilarious to watch!

Happy Dance!

Good thing no one lives below us because we are doing the happy dance!! 

No more diapers!

No more pull-ups!

No more sitting in front of the toilet begging for 45 minutes!

I'm not going to lie to myself, there probably will still be washing out underwear in the sink, but not every night!

Everyone in this house is potty-trained!

I had to call Santa immediately and he informed me that there would be a little purple princess bicycle in the storage room in the basement & we rushed downstairs at 10:30 at night for the very first celebratory bike ride. I told her she could ride her bike at the park with her friends tomorrow. I suppose that means it will rain ;)

Happy (belated) Mother's Day!

I had such a wonderful day yesterday I thought I would wait until today to write. To all you mothers out there, I hope you had a great day as well.  This was officially my fourth Mother's Day since giving birth to my daughter and the amazing thing is that my husband has only missed one of those. (He was deployed to Iraq for the second.) The Army does a great job of making sure you don't spend too many holidays together. I got 3 out of 4 Mother's Days together but only 1 of my last 3 birthdays. Weird huh? Anyway, Mother's Day is one holiday my husband does up right. He realizes when your kids are young it's up to daddy to help make the day special. Last year he helped my daughter make cupcakes.

 It was adorable! This year I took my daughter to friends birthday party and when I came home he had done the dishes (which I can't stand doing!), the laundry, and vacuumed. It was wonderful. Then we went shopping and out for supper. When we got home he had an already wrapped  present hidden from me. My daughter brought it to me and says, "Happy birthday Mommy!" 
Inside I found a Nextbook (an android tablet/e-reader) and a DS game. I was so excited! I've been wanting an e-reader for some time but I never buy stuff like that for myself. This was the most unselfish gift my husband could give me because he hates to read but he knows how much I love it. This thing is great! It came preloaded with 27 classics and it has wi-fi so I can surf the internet, get on Facebook, check my email, listen to music, watch videos, and blog ;)  It does take me a while to type on it though so I probably won't be doing a lot of blogging from it. The DS game was immediately taken over by my daughter so I haven't even got to play that yet. 
Thank you both for making today the best Mother's Day ever! 


I guess I better start planning for Father's Day...

Heidelberger Schloss

This weekend my husband and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. We drove to Heidelberg and had lunch and then visited Heidelberg Castle. It was beautiful! There was free parking up the hill from the castle. We followed the road down which led to some stairs and a path. The path will lead you through a garden that stretches on and on. (Some of the stairs and parts of the path are blocked off due to reconstruction.) The garden and fountains were all outside the area you have to pay to see. There was a gorgeous view of the outside of the castle as well. You can also see The Heidelberg Castle Powder Turret, split by an explosion, as described by Mark Twain in his 1880 book A Tramp Abroad! It's amazing to see such a historic place up close. Tickets to tour the castle cost 5 Euro for adults and 3 Euro for children. Our daughter (3) was free so I'm not sure where the age cut off is before you have to pay the child price. We walked through the gigantic wine cellar and over an enormous wine barrel. There was an amazing view of the town and river from the back side of the castle. We made the mistake of exiting the castle from that side and ended up following a very steep cobblestone path down into the city. We were told we could use our entrance tickets to ride the cable cars but it was getting late and looking like it was about to rain. We hiked back up the mountain (me gasping for breath the entire way. I really didn't think I was going to make it!) It did start to lightly rain as we wound our way toward the gardens. There was some we didn't get to explore this trip but there's always next time!

Downtown Heidelberg

The Castle Gardens

The Powder Turret

View of the City

Another view of the damaged turret

Map of the grounds (See how big the gardens are!)

Entrance to the courtyard

Entrance to the courtyard

Inside the courtyard

Inside the courtyard

Going down to the wine cellar

One of the giant wine barrels

On top of another even larger wine barrel

View of the city/river from the castle

View of the river

A fountain in the garden

Cake my husband decorated with 7's all over it. What a sweetie!