Everyone Needs ...

Yes ... it's true.


Everyone needs their very own spot.

Jasper's seems to be the lower shelf on our kitchen island.

Wonder what he will do when he's too big to lay there.

Happy Father's Day!

Growing up I had the BEST Daddy in the whole wide world!


JC Hutto was an incredible man. He was smart, funny as heck, hard working and the all around best father around.

He was from Alabama and a veteran of World War II. He was very proud of both.

I miss you Daddy ... I hope you and Momma celebrate in heaven on this Father's Day.


And I'm wishing a Happy Father's Day to the Glave fathers too!

Of course we have my amazing husband Mike, his Dad Ray (Pop) and brother Kevin.

Three amazing father's with their sweet sons!

I love this picture of the Glave boys because it shows three generations.

Mike, Griffin, Pop, Kevin and AJ

My husband Mike is an engineer. He specializes in automation and robotics. He's the absolute smartest and kindest person I know. He's a wonderful father and husband. Griffin and I love him to infinity and beyond!

Pop is a native New Yorker (can you believe that?) but he's all southerner now. He's a rockhound and enjoys the hunt of looking for treasures buried deep within the earth. He enjoys being outside and all things outdoorsy.

Mike's brother Kevin is a gunny sergeant in the Marines. He's also a member of the Quantico Marine Corps Band. We're hoping to be able to see them more often!


And a Happy Father's Day to my wonderful brother Jerome (Hut).

He's an amazing father and grandfather! He's been with the city for over 30 years (or close to it!). He's loves Nascar, his wife, family, kids & grandbabies. He's kind, funny and smart! The best big brother any girl could ask for.

I can't wait to see him in a couple of weeks ... it's been too long since I've been able to give my brother a hug.

I love you all and wish you all the HAPPIEST Father's Day ever!!

A Boy And His Puppy.

We waited a long time before we decided to bring a new puppy into our family.

We were heart broken when our sweet Wyatt passed away almost five years ago. I just didn't know if I could ever love another dog like I did Wyatt.


The minute I saw this sweet little furry four-week-old puppy ... I knew it was meant to be.

He's fit right in with our family.

He's cute and very smart.

He'll be 7-weeks-old tomorrow and he's already whining when he needs to go out. Really, how many 7-week-old puppies can do that? Granted, we still have a looong way to go with the potty training but he's already headed in the right direction.

He's getting bigger by the day and he and Griffin are getting along famously.

So I'm thinking "Jasper Milo Otis Marmaduke" will be a very LOVED member of our family for a very, very long time!

I {Heart} Owls.

This week has found me recuperating from my second bout of pneumonia. I had it last summer and I was shocked to find out I have it again.

Griffin and I are laying low and taking it easy while I'm on the road to recovery. Though he is going to a local pool with friends of ours today. I'm so lucky to have such good friends that will offer to pick him up and let him enjoy some fun time while I stay home and rest.


While I've been stuck in the house I've created some super cute new owl paper embellishments.

I {LOVE} Owls so much ... I'm not quite sure why. I think it stems from my childhood. I'm a child of the 70's and they were certainly very popular back in the day. I was thrilled when they were once again so popular!

The above picture shows the colors I have available. I have some cute little sayings to go along with them and also multi colored packs.

If you stop by my Etsy Shop by clicking HERE you can see all that I have available.

You can also bookmark www.missymadeit.com as that is a direct link to my Etsy Shop.

If you have a moment I would love for you to stop by and take a look ...

Congratulations Harley!

My beautiful niece Harley Elizabeth is graduating from high school!


Murphy High School Class of 2011

Congratulations Harley ... we are so very proud of you!

You have your whole life ahead of you.

You can be ANYTHING and accomplish EVERYTHING you set your mind to.

We love you very much!!

Missy, Mike and Griffin

Ahhhhh ....

Summer break is here and we are going to take full advantage of it!


We went to the YMCA pool yesterday and had such a good time.

Griffin had fun playing with his friends and I was able to catch up with friends I haven't seen in a long time.

We will have plenty of time for fun in the sun, trips to the library, watching movies, free bowling and {gasp} maybe even a bit of time for blogging.

I so look forward to this summer with my sweet boy.

My How He's Grown.

This is a picture I took of Griffin August 23rd of last year ...


He was headed off to his first day of kindergarten


Over the years we've kept a growth chart of sorts on the laundry room door frame

I knew he had grown quite a bit but when I measured him this morning I was *so* surprised to see he has grown over three inches since school started!


I took this picture of him this morning before we left for school ... he's so excited to go to school today. I let him wear his slippy shoes which made him even happier.

He's sad school is out for the summer because he LOVES Mrs. Gordon and his classmates so much. But, he is looking forward to the summer and lots of fun in the sun!

So ... happy last day of kindergarten little man.

I love you!!

Last Day of Kindergarten

Today Griffin received his kindergarten graduation certificate! I can't believe my baby will be headed to first grade next school year.

Cousins & Brothers.

It was fun having Kevin and AJ over today! The boys played together and then they all decided to take a ride through the woods.

Meet Jasper ...

We did it ya'll ... we welcomed a new member to our family last night.


Meet {Jasper} .... or Winston, or Marley, or Oliver, or Milo, or Otis ... we haven't quite decided on the name yet ... but the minute I saw him I thought he looked like a Jasper.


Just look at how cute he is ... and he's making a certain 6-year-old very, very happy!


His Doggy Momma Emma decided she would no longer feed the puppies so they were ready a little early. We are learning as we go ... it's been 16 years since I've had a puppy.


I expected to be up all night with him but he settled right in with Griffin's blue Easter Bunny and didn't make a peep all night. Of course he woke me up bright and early at 5:30 but that's okay.

Jasper ... yeah ... I think Jasper fits him.

I {Heart} USA Paper Flower Embellishments.

The truth is ... I love everything about red, white and blue.

With summer here it seems we see more of these beautiful colors displayed together.


I created these pretty I ♥ USA paper flower embellishments with summer in mind.

They are listed right HERE in my Etsy Shop!

Earth Day.

A few weeks ago we were at Lowe's and they were celebrating Earth Day by sharing trees to plant.


When we got home Griffin asked Daddy if they could plant his tree.


Together they planted the sweet little sappling ...


Then Griffin took rocks to create a decorative circle around his tree.

This joins the other one he planted a couple of years ago when he was in the 3's at preschool.

Our front yard is going to be (more) alive with big tall trees in the next couple of years.

Love that!

Finally ... New Dinnerware!

When Mike and I lived in Florida we were going to build a log home.


When we went looking for dinnerware in Orlando we found this beautiful blackberry china that would work wonderfully in our log home.

Since we moved to Virginia we sold our gorgeous property (complete with a pond and alligator) and we never had a chance to build the log home.

We still loved the china but after enjoying it for 10 years or more we were down to only five plates. If we had more than five people over for dinner we either had to use our heavy Pfaltzgraff stoneware or paper plates.

The last couple of years we have been searching for a replacement.

We could not agree on anything until we saw these ...


They are squares like Mike wanted. And they are not "deep" as I wanted. Most of the plates out there today look like bowls to me.

They are beautiful!

I love serving dinner on our new dinnerware ... and the best part is I now have over a dozen of them!!

Kindergarten Career Day!

It was Career Day in Mrs. G's kindergarten class and Griffin chose to be ...


A train conductor just like on the Polar Express!

To create his costume we made a conductor hat and tie out of cardstock. He wore a white shirt and jeans. And his good friend Sam lent him the jacket.


We created "golden" tickets for him to share with the class and he took a hole punch to validate each of his classmate's tickets.

On the scheduled Career Day he was actually home sick from school. He had a sinus infection and missed two days. He was very sad to miss the actual day. But, his amazingly sweet teacher emailed me and asked could Griffin bring his Career Day outfit to school the following week.

I had one happy little boy on my hands as he left for school that day!

Her Name Is Lola ...

This sweet girl showed up at our house yesterday.


She was eating food from our scrap patch and then she came right up to our porch. I checked her collar and there's no number on it. Then she suddenly disappeared.

She was back this morning. You could tell she's either going to have babies or she already has. I tried to get her to lead me to them this morning. She walked around our neighborhood and I followed her all the while asking her to take me to her "home" or "babies". No luck.

She disappeared down to our woods. I thought maybe she went back to her babies. But no, in just a little while she showed up on my back deck. She jumped up on the deck and it's pretty high. I'm thinking she's for sure had the babies.

I led her inside my house to the front porch and put up a child's gate to keep her there. I put a quilt out for her to lay on and gave her water, a hotdog and some cheese.

I called animal control and they came out. He said she's for sure had the puppies and he would do what I wanted. I couldn't let him take her knowing she has babies somewhere around. So, for right now she's still here.

My neighbor said she saw her near our shed. We think that's where the babies are. When her husband gets home from work they will come over and he's going to see if he can find them. I'm too afraid of snakes to look back there. Another neighbor shared some dog food and treats for her.

Anyway ... I'm calling her Lola.

And right now Lola is lazing on my front porch napping in the shade and she can come and go just as she wishes.

Easter Sunday.

Easter Sunday we had a fun celebration at our house ...


The Easter Bunny was very generous and hopped in and brought some fun outside play toys and candy to Griffin. Thank you E.B. for remembering him!


Our friends Carol, Hannah, Zach, Sara and Sam came over to spend the day with us. Carol made this amazing Easter Bunny cake. Not only was it adorable ... it was delicious too!


The kids played on the Slip & Slide ... they had SO much fun!


And then they hunted for Easter Eggs all the way down to the creek ...


Sara collected quite a few Easter Eggs and she's showing them off to her pretty Momma Carol


Mike took them all for a quick ride back to the house from the creek


And then ... it was dodge the waterhose time!


Of course when you mix the Slip & Slide, waterhose and dirt together ... it creates a little mud!


It's true ya'll ... a little dirt never hurt! Sam, Sara, Hannah, Zach and Griffin


This little muddy face sums up the entire day ... it was joyful, easy and fun!

We look forward to our third Easter with you all!

Special Delivery To England ...

I'm super excited ... I shipped my first order to England.

It's making me feel all *fancy*.

I've shipped an order to Australia once and many times to Canada but this is my first international order to England!


My customer's little boy is celebrating his first birthday and the theme is "Baby Mickey". She asked me to make Trouser Mickey Tags for the front of the treat bags. The little "Thank You" scallops will be incorporated elsewhere.

I love selling on Etsy!

Not only is it waaaaaaaaaaaay cheaper than Ebay I feel it allows a stronger connection with my customers.

Stop by my Etsy Shop today to see what I have available ...

Here's my link:

www.missymadeit.com

Happy Weekend ...

He Made Me A Mommy.

This little guy here ...


He's the reason I'm a Mommy and I love him so very much.

This picture was taken on Easter Sunday. The kids played on the Slip & Slide and then in the mud.

He's been sick the past week. First with a sinus infection. He missed two days of school. Then over the weekend he woke us up screaming with an ear ache. We took him to the pediatrician on Sunday (Mother' Day). Thank goodness for weekend hours. He has a very bad ear infection. He was already on antibiotics for the sinus infection. But somehow he managed to get an ear infection as well. The doctor said that was very unusual. She also said it's one of the worst ear infections she's seen. So, they changed his antibiotic and gave him a 2nd allergy medication to take daily.

He's home again today. Resting, watching his favorite movie Milo & Otis and eating popsicles.

Fingers crossed he will heal and feel well enough to go to school Tuesday.

Virginia Regional Festival Of Flight ~ 2011

This past weekend we enjoyed a fun family weekend at the
Virginia Regional Festival of Flight Fly-In

It was a beautiful weekend, the perfect weather for this fun event!


Griffin enjoyed looking at all of the airplanes


And or course sitting in this military helicopter was a highlight!


Mike is the aircraft parking committee chair so he was pretty busy during the event, but of course he took time to away from his responsibilities to be with us


Griffin LOVED playing with these darling handmade airplane cycles


The children's tent is always a favorite visit as well ... look at this cute windsock he made


Griffin LOVES to visit Jenny in the tower


He helps her look out for incoming airplanes


The Spirit of Freedom a restored military aircraft actually used in the Berline Airlift was there. It's a flying museum and Griffin enjoyed visiting it.

We had such a good time ... we are looking forward to next year's event!