Spring Flowers in Our Yards!

Spring has sprung and the flowers are in full bloom. As I walked around our yards this morning I took some pictures of our flowers. They are always so pretty this time of year.

We've lived in our house for over 8 years and Nick has been tirelessly working on the yards ever since. It seems fitting to display some of the fruits of his labor at this time as he can only savor the beauty of our gardens while he recovers from his shoulder surgery. Aren't these flowers breathtakingly beautiful!?!

I love all the bright pink colors that are surrounding the walkway, waterfall, and slide of our pool area. (Unfortunately, the darker pink flowers only bloom for about 6-8 weeks, right now, during spring.

This is the arched trellis used in Alex and Angelina's wedding almost a year ago now. It now stands at the entrance to our fruit trees area and adds a nice memory to our beautiful backyard, created by the very talented and dedicated guy who spends so many hours tending to the details of the landscaping of our yards, known as my husband, dad, and chief.
Thanks, Nick, for all the hours you have put into the beauty of our yards!

Surf City Weekend

(Huntington Beach Pier)

Last weekend we spent time with the family in the RV in Surf City Huntington Beach. It was our last RV outing for a while, since the chief had to have rotator cuff surgery. He won't be able to drive the RV for a few months.We "camped" right next to the boardwalk which runs along the edge of the big, sandy beaches that go for miles along the Pacific Coast. We stayed for three nights at the City of Huntington Beach's Sunset Vista Camping Facility, which is in the midst of the public parking lots. It is open for RV camping from October 1 through May 31st each year, offers water and electricity, and one of the most spectacular ocean views in Southern California!(The view from our RV front window)

Nicole, David and Gigi stayed with us in the "home mome" for two nights. Gigi just loves riding in Papa's "home mome." Alex and Angelina came down for dinner on Thursday and on Friday night we had some of the kids' friends come for a BBQ and bon fire on the beach (too cold for me, though, so I stayed in the "home mome" with Gigi). David's parents joined us on Saturday, for a bike ride down the boardwalk and dinner.
The weather turned out to be really nice the entire weekend. We had clear blue skies and sunny days mixed with a few clouds and lots of ocean winds. We took lots of walks down the boardwalk and out on the HB Pier, where we watched surfers riding the big waves. All in all it was another great weekend in the RV!

More photos on my flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/72308330@N00/sets/72157617553066327/

A Tribute to Captain Bill!

Our good friend, Bill recently achieved a life long dream which had been on hold for over 35 years. That dream came true on December 23, 2008, when Bill passed his flying test and received his private pilot's license! Not only did he pass on his first try, it was also his 30th wedding anniversary on the same day!! As his daughter, Kristina says, "Dad's love of flying began well before his more than 30-year career with the Federal Government--first in the US Army, where he trained to be a helicopter crew chief, then after he graduated with his A & P (Airframe and Powerplant) license, he worked as a crew chief on some of NASA's most specialized aircraft, working his way up to aircraft maintenance supervisor for NASA Ames' research aircraft. After he retired, he was able to fulfill his life-long dream that had been on hold for over 35 years... He now enjoys exploring Northern California in his Cessna 150."

To commemorate his achievement, I recently made a special quilt for Bill. It's a quilt from Eleanor Burns' book, Victory Quilts, entitled "Flyboy," made with two 1940's blocks, the propeller and the airplane.

Here's a close-up of the airplane block.

I made a special label for the quilt with a picture of Bill and his plane!!

CONGRATULATIONS, CAPTAIN BILL!! We are really proud of you!

PS We also can't wait to fly with you sometime !!

A Trip to Padres' Spring Training

I'm sure most are familiar with the famous movie quote form Field of Dreams,
"If you build it, [they] will come!" Such a true statement about Baseball Spring Training in Arizona!

Thousands came and talk about traffic! If you've not been there you would be shocked at the traffic-compares to LA freeways during rush hour! Seems that they forgot about widening the roads when they built all the baseball parks, and there are a lot of baseball parks in Arizona. All the cities run together, and while there's a ton of new growth in these cities, new homes, new shopping centers, etc. Most had only two lanes going each way, definitely not enough to accommodate the number of people who come to Spring Training. We soon discovered that eaving early for each game was a must!

Nicole, David and Gigi traveled with us, in our "home mome" on Thursday, March 19th, to Surprise, Arizona, about 30 minutes from Phoenix. We stayed in a mobile home, gated community (Sunflower Resort, although some of the residents didn't have sunny personalities!) that also had RV sites. David's parents, Dan and Jeri joined us with their trailer. Thursday night they went to the Phoenix Airport to pick up David's sister, Stacey and her son Peter (6), who flew in from Indiana.

Nick and I were the only Padres' Fans in our group--the Bennett clan is all for the LA Dodgers! So, we endured two Dodger games, being the good sports that we are! and only one Padres' game over the weekend. As much as I wanted to get Gigi a cute little pin Padres' outfit, I am told David would never allow her to wear it! She did look cute in her Dodgers garb, though!

While at Spring Training we went to 3 ballparks: Friday night we went to the Surprise Recreation Center, home of the Kansas City Royals and. (the LA Dodgers lost to the Kansas City Royals, 9-3); Saturday afternoon we went to the all new Goodyear Ballpark, home of the Cleveland Indians and the Cincinnati Reds (the Dodgers beat the Indians ); Sunday afternoon the Bennetts all went to the new Dodgers park in Glendale AZ, and Nick and I went to the Peoria Sports Complex home of the San Diego Padres and the Seattle Mariners (unfortunately, the Padres lost to the Diamondbacks 12-7). But I'm told Spring Training isn't about winning baseball games. It's about seeing new possible players for each team before the season actually starts in April.

Visiting the different ballparks (top pic: Surprise Field; mid pic: Goodyear Ballpark; bottom pic: Peoria field) was more fun than I had anticipated. Each had a look all it's own. There were a lot more fans at every game than I thought , as well; the first two games we went to had sold out crowds numbering 10,000+ fans, and 8,838 fans at the Padres' game! At all three parks we visited they not only played "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" for the seventh inning stretch, but they followed that song with "YMCA!" Seemed funny to us, but everyone got into it with arm movements and all.

We enjoyed great company, great fun, great food, nice weather, although rather HOT on Saturday-some of us had to seek shade during the game, and beautiful sunsets! We had such a good time we plan to go back to Spring Training next year, for a week! That way we can do some other things, like golf or shopping and relax between games to avoid some of the traffic. We found a new place to stay that looks much nicer and the people are friendlier. It even has a golf course right in the park!


To see more pictures from our trip to Spring Training, click on this link to my flickr pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/72308330@N00/sets/72157615899629988/

Quilts for Kentucky

I have wanted to put my God given sewing talents to use by making quilts for those in need for a very long time. So when I came across the blog post about the Mountain Baby Blankets Project (see button on the right side of my blog) I decided I would do just that.

Over the weekend I make one dozen receiving blankets for the babies of the teen moms who were the focus of Diane Sawyer's special piece on 20/20 a few weeks ago, and the reason Rachel at rachelcoxdesings decided to start the Mountain Baby Blankets Project.

That may sound like a lot of work, but they weren't, really. I just took flannel fabrics, 32" x 41" and sewed a rolled hem on each.

Then I finished quilting and binding a Quick Trip with Kitties Crib/Lap size quilt that I had made last year and decided to donate it as well.
I'm mailing them all today to the Christian Appalachian Project in Kentucky today. Often we help others around the world, but forget about some of the needs of our fellow Americans who aren't as well off as we may be. I am glad to have been able to help these Americans in a small way. It just feels good! And, I plan to make a few more quilts for them in the near future.

"unfortunately..."

Jane over at Sew Create It posted a blog about a google game where you search for “unfortunately, your name”, including the quotes. The search results should reveal some interesting, very funny, if not unusual quotes.

Here's what I got when I searched for “Unfortunately, Karen”

Unfortunately, Karen’s excitement met with a major obstacle.

Unfortunately, Karen [was] voted out of the competition last Saturday.

Unfortunately, Karen had ridden for awhile on a tire going flat.

Unfortunately, Karen could not fly out until late Friday night.

Unfortunately, Karen's 1966 solo, "I'll Be Yours," didn't chart and only received very minimal airplay in L.A.

Unfortunately, Karen's story is not on a par with her grasp of her subject.

Unfortunately, Karen has been taking another stab at cooking, and her next victims are her parents.

Unfortunately, Karen didn't get to sing, but she got her fill of dances.

Unfortunately, Karen made a bad meal.

Unfortunately, Karen's experience is all too common.

Unfortunately Karen seems to have picked up a bit of a cold from the whole experience.

LOL...and there's plenty more laughs. Have a go yourself and see what results you get :o)

Family Fun Weekend

Another trip in our "home mome"!



For Presidents'/Valentine's Day/Nicole's Birthday Weekend we ventured down to Campland on Mission Bay, San Diego, less than an hour from home in the drizzly rain, wondering if we would get rained out. We didn't luckily!

Nicole, David and Gigi joined us mid-morning and stayed with us for the rest of the weekend. Saturday turned out to be another beautiful day in San Diego, with the sun shining bright in the gorgeous blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds. The ocean breeze added to the brisk winter day as we walked around the campground which is right on the water's edge. While Gigi napped, the guys played cards as Nicole and I relaxed. In honor of Valentine's Day, Campland featured a "tent" dance with a live band. We walked over to the tent and enjoyed some music. Gigi and I danced a little, Nicole and Gigi danced, and then Gigi wondered around when she saw other kids and dogs.

Gigi is really getting into "rving!!" She loves to "drive" it and push the buttons, or light switches, over and over again! Sunday, we all walked around the large campground. We stopped in a park area (took pics on a "park bench", above) and took Gigi to play in the kids' area that had a huge play structure, with 4 slides and swings.

Then, papa and daddy took Gigi for a long bike ride around the west end of the bay and over to Ski Island on the bay.









In the afternoon, Alex & Angelina and Dan & Jeri (David's parents) joined us in honor of Nicole's birthday. We all enjoyed a yummy fish dinner at Anthony's Fish Grotto on the water!!
We thought we had escaped the predicted rain, but, we awoke up on Monday morning to heavy, crazy winds and rain. It poured rain most of the morning as we packed up, of course!

"home-mome!"

For those of you not familiar with this word, "Home-mome," it's a Gigi word, pronounced the way it appears, both "o's" the long 'o' sound!! Gigi (almost 21 months) is talking so much these days and it is fun to listen to her (although sometimes hard to figure out what she is saying!). Often she mixes up the sounds of letters in words and the order of the syllables of words, or she just makes up her own words. So, the weekend of Jan. 24th, Nick and I took the "Home-mome", otherwise known to the rest of us as our motorhome, out to Quartzsite, Arizona. Every time Gigi asked mommy where Yaya and Papa were over the weekend, she repeated Nicole saying, "home-mome!"
Here's Nick with the dogs outside our "home-mome" in our "open-space campspot." No one was anywhere near us-talk about privacy.

Over the years we have heard a lot about Quartzsite, but never made it out there before now. I'm not a desert lover so it never thrilled me, but I decided why not check it out. Afterall, it isn't the summer so it can't be too hot! We've heard "millions" of RV's go to Quartzsite from January through March every year.

Talk about a lot of RV's--they are everywhere, and I do mean everywhere, as far as one can see. Most are just parked anywhere, off the highway, in the desert, by themselves or with other RV's in circles, similar to the old west days of wagon camps! Much of the area surrounding Quartzsite is BLM land and rving-camping is free or maybe $5.00/nite!

You may be asking what's the big deal? Well, there are also hundreds of different "swap meets" and "street fair" type vendors selling any and everything you could possibly want, from kitchen gadgets, to arts and crafts, rocks and gems, jewelry, clothes, hats, food, and more. It's also a great place to people watch. We saw rigs from all over the United States.

Every couple of weeks there are specialized "shows" and while we were there it was the Big RV SHOW, selling everything imaginable for RV's. We spent several hours walking around the RV Show the first afternoon and the next morning we walked around one of the many "swap meets." The weather was perfect, warm and sunny in the 70's with a light breeze, but quite cold at night. One man told Nick you probably couldn't see all the vendors in 2 weeks time! It really is a happening place, a place we want to return to, if only to check out all the "great deals we have to have" and people watch!!

On Sunday we left Quartzsite and drove to Yuma to stay a night at the Yuma Lakes RV Resort (one of the 6 belonging to the membership we have with Colorado River Adventures-our home base being the KQ Ranch in Julian).


Nice, HUGE RV Resort with about 800 hook-up sites, pool and spa, clubhouse with activities and meals, a small miniature golf and fishing in the lakes!!
One thing Arizona has is beautiful sunsets!!

Pavone Family December 2008

December was busy for us--when isn't it?!?


The weekend before Christmas my mom came down from Simi Valley on the train for a few days. We went to Seaport Village for a nice seafood dinner and to watch the Parade of Lights on the San Diego Bay. It was a chilly San Diego night, but crystal clear!

Nick and I are pictured to the left with my mom, Hope, in the middle, in front of the beautiful red Christmas tree made of 100's of poinsettia flowers stacked in the shape of a tree!

The Pavone Family girls are pictured on the top right: R to L, Hope, Karen, Angelina, Nicole and Gigi.
Here's our Charger Cheerleader with pom poms!! Gigi loves the Chargers, as do we!! They had a great comeback season, but sadly, lost to the Steelers last weekend.

Christmas day, to the right, Alex and David "toast" their new baseball "beer steins"; Alex with his SD Padres, and David with his LA Dodgers. In the hot summer months they can freeze them and then enjoy their favorite, Mountain Dew!!!!



Here's Gigi and Angelina ("Tia" to Gigi) sitting in their new jammies!

Nicole, David and Gigi talking on "skype" to David's brother's family and cousins, with Gigi's baby Elmo close by.


Gigi loves her new pink pony that she can easily ride by herself and even makes pony sounds and plays music!!

Friday after New Year's Nick and David made my family's "Lefsa" (similar to potato tortillas rolled up with melted butter on them). Messy, very messy to make but oh so yummy!!!!

Gigi had her first taste of Lefsa and loved it!! Her great grandfather, my dad, would be proud!!

Holidays by Hand-Quilting Gifts

I've made a few Quilted Christmas Gifts and thought I would share them with you.

First, I made two sets of Quilted Christmas Cats Placemats for two very special family members, both of whom are Cat Lovers. The center of each placemat is a different cat or kitties taken for a Christmas panel fabric. I pieced around each center block first with coordinating red strips and then with approximately 3" wide strips of the border, coordinating navy blue fabric with Christmas Kitties, to make the placemats measure 14" x 18" before I added the binding.
The backing of each placemat is also the Christmas Kitties fabric used for the borders.These placemats were very easy to make and only took about an hour to piece them all together. I used Warm and Natural cotton batting between the layers and then simply quilted them together by "Stitching in the Ditch,"using matching thread.

Another gift I made was a simple Christmas tablerunner. Now a tablerunner is another quick and easy quilted project for even the most beginner of quilters. It is usually the size of two or three placemats put together, or about 18" x 36"-54." For this tablerummer I also used a block from a Christmas panel fabric, then pieced around the center to the size I wanted the runner to be. Here is a picture of the back (the fabric is an all over Christmas fabric in traditional colors with snowmen, bells, wreaths and teddy bears) laid on top of the front (alternate strips in shades of Christmas reds and greens and off white) to see the different fabrics used. Again I layered the fabrics with batting in the middle and quilted it by "Stitching in the Ditch."

Placemats and tablerummers are great small projects to practice machine quilting on. They are easy to manuever to quilt on a domestic sewing machine. These projects would be fun to make for any season or occasion by just changing the colors or theme of the fabrics.

You can see other sewing projects and ideas at Gidget Goes Home who is hosting the Handmade for the Holidays for quilting.

SEWING FOR CHRISTMAS

In an effort to simplify, I have been sewing away, making presents for family and friends for Christmas. Over the years I have often made gifts even before it became popular! I have sewn all my life and love to make things for others to enjoy.

Since the birth of my first granddaughter, Gigi (18 months), I have loved making little girl clothes again. I began making my own clothes when I was about 10 years old. My mom taught me how to sew and I guess I had an immediate love of it. I have made many dresses for my daughter, Nicole throughout her life: from play clothes to dressy dresses; Halloween costumes to prom dresses; a flower girl dress when she was 3 1/2 yrs old for my brother and sister-in-law's wedding to 7 bridesmaids dresses, a flower girl dress and 3 junior bridesmaids' dresses for Nicole's wedding as well as her wedding dress when she got married over 5 years ago! Sewing is definitely a passion of mine.

Recently my daughter asked me to make some doll dresses for two of Gigi's dolls. I searched through my many patterns but ended up copying a dress I had made in the 80's for Nicole's Cabbage Patch Doll , now Gigi's doll.

I made a sundress/jumper (pictured at top with doll dress and below) for Gigi to match this Cabbage Patch doll dress (pictured on right) made of a cute pink floral cotton print with kitties. Now Gigi will match both of her dolls (the other one I made for her baby doll named "Molly" ).

I made a second doll dress out of
Hawaiian Plumeria fabric that matches
a skirt I had made for Gigi over the summer
(also made a matching one for Nicole!)


Can't wait to see her expression, and yet wondering, if at 18 months, she'll recognize they match!!

I've got several other Christmas projects in the works, but don't want to spoil the surprise, so I will probably share these after Christmas!!

You can see other sewing projects and ideas at Simple Mom who is hosting the Handmade for the Holidays for sewing.

P.S. I'm also MOM to Gidget (aka Nicole!) of Gidget Goes Home and Gidget Loves Language