Welcome, welcome, please sit for a bit…go on, go on…OKAY SIT DOWN ALREADY. Thank you…First off I’d like to introduce myself: I’m what the human that owns this blog likes to calls the Judge-y Cat. I live with the humans in this house of mine here in good ‘ol Iowa. I think she calls me […]
current state of my sewing room= very messy (you can’t see the real mess, I’m just showing you the sort of messy part Im still in the middle of crazy over here. With the kids out of school for the summer, and me still in the middle of a large deadline…I find that I wanted […]
Hello! And welcome to my Blog! If you are new here visiting for the first time from the Jolly Jabber allow me to introduce myself. Hi, I’m Vanessa of V and Co. I’m a Fabric and Pattern designer For Moda Fabrics and I get to be part of the Designer Mystery block of the month […]
last snow day I spent separating, sorting and organizing a lot of pink stuff We here in the midwest have been having a doozy of a winter. With frigid cold days, icy roads, and blizzard like conditions due to windy stormy snowy days…there have been more snow days and late starts in january alone than […]
Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m a little over winter. This winter has been the coldest I’ve ever experienced no seriously…like…EVER… I’ve experienced negative degrees before…but this winter we’ve experienced negative degrees that made my past experiences childs play. We’ve been been in the negatives with -45 windchills. It’s insane. You would think […]
This quilt has nothing to do with the blog post…I just needed a pretty first picture. Please excuse me as this is the SECOND TIME I am writing this. I finished my first blog post and then tried to insert a picture and that’s when blogger decided to brain fart and it froze. I couldn’t […]
This is my all time favorite picture of my kids. It kills me because I don’t have a high resolution jpg of it so I can’t make it a large print. This picture actually brings tears to my eyes just thinking about that time. It was taken in 2009 Jake was deployed. We were going […]
So it totally snowed and snowed yesterday. Made me a little grumpy. So to kind of cheer me up I started working on teacher Christmas gifts. Sort of worked. Oh I have learned over the years to tolerate winter. Trust me. But with snow comes days filled of shoveling. And while I no longer am […]
the husband and i are from california. i think you know that. since moving here to the midwest, we’ve not gone “home”. and even before that we had the deployment and other things that got in the way from our visiting. so we made the trek, BY CAR, this summer. we drove all 30 hours […]
yesterday i continued to work on things for market. i am doing a school house with Aurifil threads and i will be showing off a few things i’ve made (including this little bag) with my line of threads with them. one person asked if i did the embroidery by hand. uh no. but thank you […]
this last weekend i felt like spring finally happened. i got to sew a little and clean a little. we spent a lot of time watching GC with the family and spent some time outside…FINALLY. we love weekends like this where we aren’t needing to be anyplace, and really it’s just all about family. when […]
taken at the botanical gardens in Cleveland Ohio there are times while in the middle of a situation that the thought crosses my mind: “this is going to make a great blog post when i have a little bit of time to forget the traumatizing feelings i am experiencing and it actually becomes kind of […]
yesterday we had a really cold morning…well for march it was cold and for me it most definitely was. it was 2 degrees and the fog had just burned off or moved on…and what it left behind was beautifully frost covered trees. this has got to be one of my most favorite things that happens […]
…i said i was going to show you how to appliqué and make different middles for your dresden plates today…that was when i had a brain fart and forgot that my kids had a 4 day weekend. and that i invited other boys to come over to keep them company…so currently i have 7 boys […]
yesterday was pizza day. every tuesday we do pizza, every wednesday we have scouts, every sunday we do church, every monday we do family night, every friday we go out to dinner as a family. we are a super scheduled family. we like it that way. but with very scheduled families you throw a holiday […]
hi guys just a quick note to say hey and i did it. it went well and i only had a few here and theres that could have gone a little smoother but for the most part. I FREAKING DID IT. thank you for your vote of confidence. i’m starting to get a little better […]
jackie chan that is. yup, this is a story about the day i joined a gym again. the day i was forced to stop walking in the wee morning hours while most of the neighborhood sleeps. see you would think that the word “winter” would have stopped me from walking. nope, we’ve had a pretty […]
since moving here almost 6 months ago, i feel like life has been moving in fast forward motion. i blog sporadically. weekly mind you…but no set post, and no set hours like i am so fond of doing. i clean like a mad woman only to get aggravated that my house still needs to be […]
NORMALCY I CRAVE YOU!!! pfew! oh wow. if you follow me on facebook you saw that jake threw out his back. it’s pretty bad people, he can’t move. 🙁 i think the hardest part for him is that he’s dying to get up, and it’s driving him nuts…and the kids aren’t used to seeing him […]
so much for creating star wars projects from the awesome star wars book i got while there are a bazillion legos to be put together in star wars theme of course… i think all the lego sets have almost been completely completed. (ha try saying that 10 times fast) the christmas weekend kicked the trash […]
our new family tradition in our new area… sunday afternoon bike rides on the trails remember eons ago when i was rounding out the last day of the year looking forward to start the new year, and i had no clue our life was going to be rocked just three months later? yeah, remember my […]
4 years ago as we drove through the middle of nowhere to arrive to our little middle of nowhere town…i turned to jake and said “really? can we really do this?” i was born in L.A. and moved to San Diego in 7th grade…to which then i moved to a “small town” of (back in […]
thanks for the comments, emails, talks, and phone calls. the stories shared by some of you are truly inspiring. the support you guys express very much appreciated. and… we’re doing well. as a whole we’re doing good. i have my moments of in the corner rocking back and forth in the fetal position, yes i […]
first off holy hannah! 5000 comments later on the giveaway. and i come to find out that 5000 comments is the limit that blogger lets you have. i.never.knew.that. so i’ve opened up asecond post for all you people who keep emailing me to open up the comments again. okay now for moving on: well so […]
this year the V and Co. clan continued the tradition i so begrudgingly didn’t want to start last year and now i actually find kind of endearing. we as a fam went out and got us a christmas tree. we trudged in the two feet snow. i thought i saw a perfect tree within the […]
arrrrrrragghhhhh! i’m soooo mad i could SPIT! first i have to do a disclaimer that i do not and will not EVER play any of those stupid facebook games. you know the ones…frontierville and farmville and whaterelseville…because i know myself. oh.yes.i.do. and no matter how many times someone tries to ask me to give them […]
moving into a house that’s bigger means needing to buy stuff for extra rooms. one room in mind is the bathroom. we have 3 and half bathrooms. last house had 2 bathrooms. so there’s a master bathroom, a guest bathroom (aka katie’s bathroom) laundry room bathroom (the half bathroom) and the basement bathroom (aka oh […]
my old dining slash kitchen area looking a lot more “moving organized” in this picture than what it really looks like right now well i really can’t write much as i am in a time warp continuum of this black hole called “moving just down the street.” but here’s a snip-it of my new kitchen […]
one of my next projects is made out of this line. i’m super excited about it, i can’t wait to see if it turns out as cute in real life as it did in my head and in my sketch book. i’ve been working on it…sloooooowly…everything over here creative has been put on the “slow […]
our weekend was spent together as a family. i can honestly say that i’m happiest when we, as a family are working together. i guess if you are talking love languages mine would be acts of service. yes, yes, i am married to a marriage and family therapist…can you tell? we talk about this crap […]
hello! i can’t believe we’re rounding out summer. i’m so not ready to welcome fall. please don’t make me do it. sigh…fine…i’ll do it but not now. right now lets talk about our garden… our garden (despite my earlier attempt to kill it) has made a bit of a comeback. sooo happy because i don’t […]
happy monday! so many of you are on board in the get rid of crap process! good for you! it’s contagious and let me tell you… you guys motivated me to organize a little more than what i anticipated on doing in the first place. we went through and organized all three boy’s dresser drawers, […]
cookies i made last week sometime…i’ll share the recipe soon i have a secret ingredient that makes these babies something to talk about… okay…so yes it’s been a while. hi there! i apologize for my lack of being here. i mentioned a few posts back that i would be going to girls camp. yup that […]
so it’s over. market that is. now i’m home. but my head is still spinning. what a whirlwind of events and yes, no pooping of the pants happened. okay a fast run down: dana and i finally met in person. we knew we would hit it off. but it’s always fun to get to know […]
we seriously need new pictures of us this was almost taken two years ago so i don’t know about you but my husband has some kind of weird attachment thing going on with the remote control. for example as his butt is getting ready to hit the chair or bed the remote needs to be […]
so i mentioned yesterday that we were going to be at the derby races. we won. um, like the whole thing. our 8 year old placed 1st overall. the 10 year old took 2nd in his den. we did not handle it well. we meaning the mister and i. let me set up the story […]
nope not tax time…well, yes it’s that too… did you get your’s done? phew, we did too. but that’s not what i’m talking about. i’m talking about DERBY RACING TIME. yes, that time of the year when the boys become men and the men become…boys. sanding, shaping, grinding. painting, drawing, hotglueing. WD-40-ing, graphite powedering, and […]
so, my kid played basketball this year. he didn’t do too bad. at the end of the “season” we got their team and individual pictures back. when i first saw the picture i exploded in a “HAHA!…ahem. that’s a good picture bud. why did you uh…hmmm.” second noise maker answers:“they told me not to blink.” […]
i go to thrift stores. nothing new there. it’s not because of the economy or because i’m trying to stick it to the man. and most definitely not because i’m trying to find some antique to sell on ebay. i don’t like ebay it stresses me out. not saying that anyone out there who shops […]
or ferocious farts, or odoriFerous poop(f)s….okay maybe not that one. but you get what i’m putting down. no? well let me explain in a story. it goes a little like this: so katie had been holding her poops. yes, you read it right. holding.her.poops. as in she wouldn’t have a bowel movement for days. and […]
we’ve had a bit of snow come our way. i’ve had to wear my closed toe shoes and mr v and co has been trying to make sure our house stays nice and warm. but while the boys are at school and work…the girls jump on beds, play with fabric, and play dress up with […]
with the sickies of the flu still prevalent in our home…we’ve had a pretty low key weekend. but so far we’ve had 12 hours of no one up chucking. i actually slept good last night. i’m crossing my fingers, knocking on wood, and holding my breath that we’re done. here’s to being optimistic. well, this […]
nothing like skidding in at the last minute with hair singed and smoke billowing up off of it…. phew! anyone else feel like they’ve been running a marathon? i promised today…and well today it is: okay so i got to meet and learn a little about 156ish (plus emails) of you. yes, i read each […]
image most of you know that i have kids in elementary school. three to be exact. my kindergartner made a ginger bread man the other day at school, and well the gingerbread man ran away. so here’s the thing: if you happen to see the ginger bread man in your area (in the u.s. or […]
after two days of wearing closed toe shoes (anyone who knows me personally knows that’s a BIG DEAL), i whispered to jake from two rooms over “JAKE…I.JUST.SAW.IT.” it was behind the water heater. and it had come out for a mere second as my super heighten senses went off. jake with his flash light and […]
so our house is surrounded by fields. lots and lots of fields. and well in fields you commonly find field mice. this is a story about just that…but with a baaaaad ending. read on: we found a cute little field mouse outside and caught it in a mason jar… brought it in the house, the […]
recent happenings around V and Co’s stomping ground that night we had what sounded like a stampede of cows mooing so loud we went out there with a flash light to see what was going on (and to make sure they hadn’t plowed through our fence) what we found were 50+ cows all staring into […]
we got to do a few things as a family…and we worked pretty hard. first, we picked our apples from our trees in our back yard. and that picture doesn’t show all of the apples we picked! yeah, i’ll be up to my armpits canning apple pie filling this coming week. then we went on […]
to fly your flag real high today. and make sure you also remember there are a lot of soldiers out there helping that day never to happen again. no matter what the media says… they sacrifice a lot just to make sure we have a safer place to live. ********************* have a nice weekend. there […]
the happenings around the house since the first day of school. i am recovering from a nasty little “something” that attacked my insides off and on this weekend…slowly i am making it back to life. slowly…we will see what i can accomplish today, it may just be rolling from one side of the bed to […]
this last week(end) was the middle of nowhere’s fair. i have to admit one thing this small town knows how to do, is it’s fair. if you are looking for big rides and lights, huge floats and concerts…well keep on moving along cause that’s not what we do here. nope, we have our local shops […]
i go walking in the mornings, bright and early. well it used to be bright and early. these past few days i’ve been noticing that 6am is getting darker and darker. every day it’s like it’s taunting me just a smidge bit more “summer’s almost behind you.” seriously where did summer go? we’re now talking […]
frijoles (beans) are simmering, trader joe recycled shopping bags are all over my kitchen, organic meats, fruits and vegetables are in my freezer and refrigerator. katie hasn’t touched the floor for more than two minutes in a row, univision has been found on our digital cable and my spanglish is flying all over the place. […]
hello! yes i’m talking to you. {over here waving and jumping up and down} i just wanted to say i enjoy your comments, questions, emails, tweets, and links! thank you! seriously do you know how tempted (each day) i am to go to each one of your guys’ sites and give you as much praise, […]
we, for some reason this summer, haven’t been able to spend too many weekends just being home. this weekend was completely different, we didn’t really go anywhere. well we did make one trip to home depot. name of the game this weekend…operation lets do some of the things we’ve been meaning to do for a […]
cow whisperer formerly known as GI joe husband: hey there meatloaf. meatloaf: hey there dude who’s totally not going to kill me cause he’s getting soft around the edges and totally falling for my evil plan of being all cute only while he’s looking. cow whisperer formerly known as GI joe husband: hey so i […]
may i introduce: sloppy joe and meatloaf. meatloaf is the black faced one with the “bad attitude” look. can’t wait to have the talk with the kids as to why the cows are gone and we have so much meat in the freezer. but thankfully that won’t happen till much later on this year. and […]
that we don’t have a crib up in our home. we did it. we put her in her toddler bed. this toddler bed was made by my father in law. this bed is super sturdy and has survived all three boys. and now she gets it. we anticipated a hard transition, but she’s handled it […]
marriages have ups and downs do they not? but even with the ups and downs you want to continually work on building a stronger relationship. working together as a couple on things and complimenting each other on the job well done is a great way to build a stronger relationship. let me do a conversation […]
we had a lovely celebration of “oh my gosh i can’t believe you have made it 11 years of waking up with my crazy butt every morning.” he even bought me the movie. we havn’t watched it yet…oh but we will…we will. friday and saturday were beautiful and spent outside…i got to paint some too…more […]
just got the call from my mom saying she can’t figure out how to check messages so she’s going down to the store that sold her the phone and tell them she needs help. she is happy to report though that after a few missed calls and hitting every darn button on the phone she […]
thank you so much for the love over at the moda bake shop and here! you guys are the best. i may have to do a giveaway of some sort to show you how thankful i really am…i’m thinking next week. okay so a small percentage of the people who voted said “robin’s egg blue”for […]
usually i have no problem with a title and well i guess there’s a first for everything… presidents day was really low key for us. with all the kids home and the husband (no longer GI Joe husband…i’ll have to come up with something witty) not starting up work till next week…we pretty much just […]
i made these two matching aprons, one for me and one for the little one. but not without the help and companionship’s of this lady and this lady. we’ve only met a a few times before they came down here to spend the weekend with me, but we knew from the start that we could […]
dear middle of nowhere people, well what can i say. i know some of you have started to read this silly little blog of mine, so i thought i would take the opportunity to say to you all THANK YOU. thank you thank you thank you. never in my wildest dreams did i think possible […]
then i decided to torture myself and the kids by trying to take a picture…these depict happy moments…but don’t be fooled. ps: i’m pretty darn proud of myself this year for letting the tree be decorated by my children. notice the gaps and clumps of ornaments, GI Joe husband knows that’s a big BIG deal. […]
flowers from GI joe husband for my birthday (NOT FROM MY ARCHIVES!) so my wonderful friends come to my aid again. lets see, i have a borrowed sewing machine, a borrowed microwave (oh yeah forgot to mention that yet another thing that i use every single day is broken too! lets just hope things come […]
that’s all i’m doing today. and i think i’ll stay away from the tv so i don’t hyperventilate all day long. that way at the end of the day it’ll just be like taking off a band aid… quick with a little sting…
most of my day was spent between the kids and organzing my fabric. we had a great day of cleaning and playing… i tried to get a good picture of her hair but she kept moving and when she would see the camera she would instantly make a cheesy smile and say “eese” (her version […]
you were right this time his leaving is harder than the first time. he leaves tomorrow morning… early morning. i’m dreading the 3 hour drive home from the airport becuase i’ll have all that time to just sit and think, i’m dreading getting used to not having around again, i’m dreading every night not watching […]
i’m finally able to put some of my dishes back in the cabinets, we’re working on the doors today. i asked him why he was doing this while on his leave and his answer was “cause i know it would make you happy.” yes it does, but not for the same reasons he thinks. he […]
there’s a few things i’ve noticed since you’ve been home. *i missed you more than i thought i did. *the kids REALLY love having you around and want your attention at all times. *we do much more fun things when you are around (like bbq’s and smores) *i’ve missed you *katie absolutely loves her daddy. […]
today we are picking apples from our apple trees and we’ve already gone to home depot for my NEW COUNTER TOPS which GI Joe is currently working on… gosh i miss him…and i love having him around…the kids love it too…well katie’s verdict is still out but she’s slowly warming up to the man she […]
So instead of me trying to explain the situation I’ll just give you an idea on how the conversation went between me (the INNOCENT one who just thought the cow was “sleeping”) and the owner of the cow: Ring ring…ring ring… Owner: hello? Me: uh, yeah, er..uh hmm, er this is Vanessa. Owner: oh hi […]
so here are some of the specifics (which i’m still working out): **the store that i’m going to be paying rent in is already up and running as a scrapbook and consignment shop, but she doesn’t want to do consignment anymore and has expressed that she needs help with decorating it and keeping set hours… […]
oh i think i’m going to throw up…but here i am telling all of you that i’ve done it…i’m going to do a second hand store here out in the middle of nowhere…i’ve been thinking about it for months, no, years…but it’s actually going to become a reality starting next month. i’m paying rent and […]
so we’re in slc AGAIN…this time it was for an appt. for the little one. the doc just wanted to make sure that she didn’t have hip displacia (sp?), which she doesn’t and my very happy remark to the specialist was “oh yay! it’s only that she’s as graceful as her mother.” no, she probably […]
every morning the skys are clear and sunny. but it‘s august so that means thunder storms, and when being out in the middle of nowhere that means the thunderstorms are right there… you can see the lightning touch down and there is no 1 one thousands to count cause the thunder is immediate sometimes…makes for […]
okay i find it hysterically funny that my ads ( i don’t pick what they are mind you) go from crafty things like “charm pack sales” and “fabric stores” to ones like “elk hunting 6 X 6 $3995” but my favorite one is the free elk ringtone from verizon i couldn’t make this stuff up […]
now 50% of my children are puking and i’ve slept probably oh 2 hours total and not consecutively but i did manage to make 3 out of the 5 doll blankets that i had planned to update to the shop. so i will hopefully find some time to update this morning. i’m forcing myself to […]
We are rapidly approaching fall here. Yes, i know what you are saying “WHAT?! Its’ july crazy girl!” but let me explain…out in the middle of nowhere things are done…differently. You all are still frolicking around going to water parks sipping lemonade…here we’re talking about cords and hunting licenses. here are the sure tell tale […]
i tried to take pictures of the kids yesterday…i didn’t get anything worth putting up on my header. but i was looking at all of them and noticed kyle… and the cat that he was holding…i would feel bad for it but truth be told, i’m starting to hate those cats. also my 4 year […]
because i have nothing to write i thought i would share with you a conversation i had with my husband (the marriage and family therapist who does wilderness therapy for troubled teens turned JI Joe) a few weeks ago i’ll set the scene: jake took the liberty of writing something on the blog about just […]
these are the hands of my father in law. he can do a better job than any professional i know. currently he is working on my sprinkler system, picking up where my husband left off before he had to leave. these hands can do just about anything handyman-ish, they could build you a house they […]
i don’t write much about him cause his work in the army is case sensitive, and he’s adamant about me keeping that promise that i would not divulge any info that might in someway hurt the company while overseas, so even though i don’t write about him, we are updated from time to time that […]
first off thank you for your comments yesterday, the sites, and the encouraging words alone made me have a great day. i know we will be alright. he’s a great kid, and we’re doing better already, even from when we first got the diagnosis. today is filled with things i need to do… kind of […]
well as if we don’t have enough crazy going on around here, lets just add a whole new litter to the mess shall we?things i learned from the experience 1)i’m super happy i only have one kid at a time, i mean i could probably handle twins but uh no thank you to 7 at […]
off to the left you will see my husbands old pinewood derby car that 20 somewhat years ago brought home a few medals. off the the right you will see nate’s pinewood derby car that well, lets just hope it does allright. but tonights the night! wish us luck!!!!
this i violet, isnt she cute? anyways apparently my daughter trying to beat up her daughter isnt enough to make her not want us around, so we had another play date for the girls. and they seem to get closer and closer to actually maybe liking each other this is the rug in violet’s room, […]
jake with his mom and dad our ever so excited selves nate daddy and katie daddy and kyle looking on to the airplane my favorite picture i don’t know why they’ve dragged this process out so long, i would of much rather had a quick pull of the the bandaid instead of a little tug […]
i’m trying to take pictures of jake and the kids. it pains me to no end that we havnt taken a family picture yet that is outside, it’s just been so cold, and with katie being sick with a nasty cough i just can’t bring myself to do it! so when jake has a few […]
The EEG was normal! Yeah I’m so relieved! It took them till yesturday to tell us but alas late (good) news is better than not! So thank you so much to all of you who prayed, thought, and said nice things to us. We are doing so much better these days with him, and we’re […]
Whatever you do, do NOT get that nasty flu thing that is going around! IT IS HORRIBLE!!!! My kids and I were in bed starting on Friday and I just got moving about monday long enough to throw all linens off our beds, and Lysol, and Pinesol, everything I could with the small amount of […]
And we’re partying likes it’s summer! My kids were thinking it WAS summer! They spent so much time outside they actually turned pink from running and riding thier bikes! I loved it! They did so well yesturday playing together that I was a little bored and started to organize my shirt drawer, military style, so […]
I didn’t go up to see Jake this weekend because of all the traveling we did this last week. And he tells us he’s doing things at Camp Williams but I never actually had any proof untill now. Just got an update, I guess this is a M203 grenade laucher that he is shooting. Shooting […]
NO ONE bosses her around! one of my favorite pictures of her my artsy fartsy side of taking pictures Gosh she’s growing up too quick! I remember when Nate was born, and I couldn’t wait till he entered the next stage. It was always so exciting, anything new he did and I was calling everyone! […]
Here’s our boy goat Billy…hmmm…my mom always said “If you can’t say nothing nice, dont say nothing at all” well…enough said! (have I thanked you Felicia lately for being so willing to give us your goat? You want him back?)
So I know most of you know that I own a couple of goats, well meet Daisy. In the summer time she enjoys eating my roses and getting out of where she is suppose to be. She likes long periods of time tied up to the chain (must be the only reason why she gets […]
So yes, since moving to Loa, I’ve come to learn a few new things. Some of which are: the sounds of cows doing the nasty in our backyard is loud enough to wake you up in the middle of the night. Your kids will be curious as to why one cow is trying to play […]
Well Jake did it, he defended his dissertation last week and it went smoothly, They congratulated him and told him he could call himself a “Doctor”. Now all I have to do while he’s deployed is doing the wrap ups (signatures here, bounding a book there…) and my man will be graduating with his PhD.! […]
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