Still loving the updates! My kids were so sad to leave. They feel in love with your girls!
It was so great to meet everyone at the DISmeet!
I agree - that was just a super fun trip! I loved being able to meet some of my Dis friends!
I don't like crab, so when the kids have it, I just do what I can to get the meat out for them.
DH can work with crab nicely ... but I can do it quicker (and messier). Maybe DH can give you lessons in exchange for your girls coming to visit.
Hmmm... Excellent idea - however - I am a very slooooow learner.
About the missing pictures.... I've not had this happen on the Canon yet, but I know sometimes when I'd import pictures from my Sony, not 100% of them would come over. I'm not sure if it's a card issue or a computer issue. It's rare, but sometimes it has happened. Did you delete the pics of your memory card? You may want to browse through it and see if they're there.
Yah - I cleaned off my memory card... I'll have to check the laptop to see if they might have missed the jump to the desk top. Otherwise they are prob gone. I can see if DH can recover them - but I've taken thousands of pics over the top of those already - so I doubt they can be recovered.
The best toys we got for chewing issues were from Target. It's a big blue bone -- my dogs were able to bite pieces off of it so you do have to be careful as it's probably not meant to be edible, but it sure beat them eating pieces of my furniture!
This is the bone:
http://www.target.com/p/Pet-Stages-Orka-Bone-Dog-Toy/-/A-11076006
You can see it gets some bad reviews because pieces do break off, but I would give it 4-5 stars. Then again, I have small dogs.
And I have to post this because without a doubt it's Penny's favorite toy -- we only have the butterfly, but we have two of them as she loves it soooooo much:
http://www.target.com/p/Butterfly-Turtle-Plush-Pet-Toy/-/A-11077898
I also bought this for chewing and the dogs never touch it:
http://www.target.com/p/Nylabone-Dura-Chew-Bone-Original-Flavor-Giant/-/A-13290286
Thankfully we are past the chewing stage, unless of course a dog breaks into dd's room and finds Praline the cat
I am going to go look at these shortly. MM has this blue nubby bone - we have only been able to find it in a variety 3 pack - and it's his favorite bone... I've been trying to find it for sale by itself, and no luck.
For the machines post on Disbout -- I would not pick machine #3 though -- chances are you will rarely use the designs they supply you with. In deciding b/t one and two decide what you want. Is an extra hoop set important to you? Add up the prices of what you can buy vs. what they supply. I think you would be happiest with the basic (#1) and just buy other things if you need them. It's impossible though for me to compare as I only have the basic.
See, that's the problem - is I just have no idea what I need to get started.
Machine
Stabilizer (Florani is recommended by a lot of people? - Gotta figure out where to buy that)
Thread (Should I just order the most popular colors variety pack from Marathon? Then maybe a couple extra spools of black & white?)
Scissors (one curved - or one curved each direction? - and one with a sharp point)
Bobbins?? I think I am going to wind my own - Patience does amazing bobbins - but I'd like to get a pack of them so I can wind a bunch.
Is that it? Am I missing anything?
I use my curved scissors all the time. I hate my gingher scissors. They hurt my hand to use them LOL.
I would go with the basic machine, I would then purchase an extra 5 x7 and one 4 x 4 hoop (those are the hoops I use most often and I like to hoop another shirt at times while the other is stitching I feel more productive that way) I would then by my supplies extra. I like Marathon because you can buy a package and then substitute colors to add up to the number of spools in the package. They are really great to work with.
I know others have bought embroidery thread from threadart.com but I haven't though I did buy some regular thread from them that I will give a review on.
Love your update
Oh yes - the hoops... I forgot the hoops.
I've heard so many great things about Marathon!
I am so jealous of your Dismeet picture! Mine is so seriously photobombed~ I even have the back of Seth's head in it...front and center! DH used our camera last, and by that time everyone was going crazy and ready to leave. Oh well...glad I have one! It was great meeting everyone, and I hope next time we meet we can meet earlier in the day when not everyone is bone tired!
You're welcome to take my picture!
Too funny about Allison almost running into the horse!
I can only imagine the look on her face when she got back to you and Corri!
Yah - it was too funny... It was a story that I almost forgot, because I didn't have it written in my journal.
I am putting the Cape May Buffet on my ADR list for next year! We are a family of seafood lovers...and pretty good at cracking crab too! Funny thing is that I grew up in Florida, and had never tried crab at all until I got married at 25 years old. I too had to depend on DH to crack my crab until about a year or two ago. Imagine how proud I was of myself when I mastered the art of crab crackin at 30
something years old!
Yes, you should eat there... We'd probably go again - but I would definately have to find a Community Ed class for crab cracking!
Your picture came our nice, though I see somebody behind me ready to strick.
Darn - I didn't even see him there until you said something. Grrr...
[I love that story about the carrage. On second you were telling her to not get to far and then she was running back at us at a break neck speed. It still puts a smile on my face when I think about it.
I know - it was sooo funny!
[Cape May sounds so good. Might have to add it to my list. It's getting so long. My DD likes to try new things.
Yes, you should add it to your list - it was so fun - and interesting.
[I forgot about this picture. V so intense behind the wheel with A in the passanger seat freaking out has me rolling on the floor. Great memory.
I am not looking forward to them driving at all. I think I am going to make them wait an extra 2 years to get their licenses... I know I will be a nervous wreck with them driving!
great photos of the resort area....funny about the crab cracking, I've never done it before, but know it can be messy!
It is very messy - especially when I do it - and most of my meat goes to waste, because I can't get it out of the shell.
so what was up with the snooty people as CM....maybe they were jealous of you having fun together! the sand castle is really cool!
I am not sure... they were fresh out of my LLBean catalog though.
love your towel animals, you had a great mousekeeper!
Yes, she was so nice! We could definately tell when she had a couple days off during our trip.
isn't the walk between POFQ and POR beautiful...those horses are a bit big!
happy you got a fun , but short DIS meet in and that the girls had so much fun with Liddy's!
It is a very nice walk - if only we weren't so tired of walking. LOL
The Dismeet was awesome!
Great update! We really like the feel of the Beach Club. We've never stayed there but I think we end up visiting for some reason every trip.
It is a very nice resort - I just don't know that we could ever justify staying there. I guess, if I am going to stay at a theme park resort - it's gonna be the Poly... And for that matter, I am such a tightwad - I am not sure I could justify the Poly when Shades of Green is right across the road and much more afforable.
It might just be me, but I think that the nicely dressed family would stand out more at Cape May. Disneyfied people should fit right in.
They probably did... It's just that we were sitting at the end of our row, and I was facing the wall - so I didn't see any other people, just them. So, it was probably just my perception.
I just felt like they were criticizing my every movement. LOL
I totally agree about the crab cracking. When we ate at Cape May, I was horrible at it. My mom makes it look so easy when she eats crab. I got some crab meat but I eventually gave up.
My BFF is the exact same way - she has tried to teach me several times, but has just given up and cracks it all for me. LOL When we take our trip together in a few years - I am definately scheduling a dinner at CM - ROFL.
You're welcome to steal my DISmeet picture. I thought mine came out AMAZING!
I will.
I considered Cape May ... but now I'd really like to consider it more!
Oh... good point. I didn't notice Akki back there! So am I the ONLY one without a photo-bombed (or near enough) picture????
Yah - I didn't notice him either. Bummer.
Love the POR pics! So pretty at night. And the Beach Club is gorgeous too. Thats too bad about the people next to you giving you dirty looks. I would've given them right back. There was nothing wrong with how you looked! You looked amazing! They are in Disney...lighten up! Thats why I was afraid to book a meal at the Grand Floridian. I thought we might get a few looks there
I have heard that about GF - and will probably never book a meal there for that reason.
I've only stayed on night at the BCV but we really loved it there. I loved just walking to Epcot and not worrying about taking the monorail to TTC to get our car.
CapeMay looks awesome but I don't like seafood except for clam chowder and clam cakes and yes I know how ironic that I am from the "OCEAN STATE"
Maybe some day we will stay there - but I honestly enjoyed POFQ a lot and I can't envision us staying anywhere else.
And I love how you do the pictures from the past & present
Thanks! I love doing them, but I need to get them organized. I tried organizing them in PB the other day - and it was being stupid. I am sure that once I get them organized, I will have a lot more to show you all.
And I love my curved Friskars too but I think mine are getting dull. They don't seem to be cutting like they use to.
I need to take a few pairs of my scissors in to be sharpened, I should have had that done while I was on vacation, because I don't think I can live with out them for that long. I know they need to be professionally done though, because I've heard of many people wrecking them. I have also heard that Gingher will sharpen their scissors for life - you just have to send them in. Hmmm... I should research that.
As for organizing my designs... example I have a folder for just Disney then I break it down into more folders. Disney Misc, Disney Princess and Mickey & Friends. (And more folders in those
) But you get the idea.
I also have another folder that I now copy a picture of the design so I know which ones I have. I have already purchased some of the same ones twice because I didn't know what I had.
That is an excellent idea, to organize be designer too, so you don't repurchase.
Great update! We are very blessed to be DVC members and stay at the BCV. We ate at Cape May on our last trip, and I'm sure no one was overly dressed. We sure weren't - my girls pretty much live in soffee shorts and tanks at Disney (even in Dec...) I am always amazed at the families who look fresh and crisp- maybe they are trying to make sure the character pictures are perfect?
You are very blessed. I would love to own DVC, but I seriously doubt DH would ever go for it - since it would mostly be something for me.
Looks like a great DIS meet! Good for you for not falling asleep until after... I wonder how you are going to make it through the rest of the trip!
LOL - yah, I don't know how we made it on the rest of our trip. However, almost every day, we took a break in the middle - and that was very helpful.
My only advice for organizing your designs is to decide how you plan on doing it before you purchase your first design. Waiting a few months to decide makes for a very difficult time!!!
That makes perfect sense!
DO NOT store on a thumb drive. They fail way too often. And with a 770, it will only read 100 designs on a single drive (and do not store them in folders on the thumb drive...the machine can't see them unless they are in the root drive.
I understand. I wasn't thinking of storing them on the thumb drive as my main storage - but I can see where you would think that by how I wrote it - my DH always makes sure I back up everything - twice. LOL
I have an external hard drive that all my designs are backed up daily.
We have external, as well, but I don't know how often DH backs it up?
I, personally, have decided that the best way for me to organize them is by designer...so, when I decide to purchase a new design I can easily tell what I have already bought from that designer...and cut down on duplicates of the same design...not that I would know anything about that...
So, do you then keep a document that is organized by character listing the designer, as well - so you can easily find where the file is stored?
If your largest hoop size is a 5x7 and the design you are buying has 3 sizes (4x4, 5x7, and 6x10) keep all three designs together. While it is relatively easy to change from one format to another, changing the size to a 6x10 later...not so easy!
Oooh - this is excellent advice - I never would have thought of that!
If saving space on your hard drive is a concern...delete all formats except the one you use (like PES for the 770.) There is free software that will change the format for you if you ever have the need to change it.
This is also excellent advice! I need to save these comments to my favorites, so I can reference them again when I need to.
If you want to add names to designs in beautiful letters...you will need a software program to do this... (even though the 770 will do basic lettering, you are limited to the fonts included in the machine and cannot merge an applique and lettering ) (well, not easily anyway...). There is a free software SEU that will do it, but is so very very complicated and counter-intuitive! I tried a free trial of Embird and was in love! Has to be the easiest software I ever used! Unlike other software, you can purchase it according to what you need...if you just want to add letters and do some basic editing of purchased designs, you just get the basic...if you want to digitize your own designs...you add on the various modules...
If I buy any digitizing software, it will be Embird... based solely on your recommendation, because I know you have wasted a lot of time on other software, and I also know you'll only use the best.
Each and every time you purchase a design from a new designer...do a test stitch before you stitch out a 'money' item...some designers are better than others. Some have smaller satin stitches than others...meaning you have to cut closer to the tack down stitch. It is really nice to know this BEFORE you ruin a shirt...etc...
Again, excellent advice... How in the world am I going to remember all of this???
Oh yeah...the reason you want to decide on HOW you want to organize them before you buy them..... Last time I counted mine...I had several thousand designs! (I have only been embroidering for 2 years...this count was about 6 months ago!
Nini
GULP!
OMG! I think you are right. He is getting big! Not sure if I have told you this before, but he is such a cutie! Unfortunately they don't stay at that cute little stage for very long. But then again, that is when they have those razor sharp, pointy puppy teeth, so I was glad when Buffy grew up. She still acts like a goofy puppy a lot, just the teeth aren't as sharp. We did two things that helped with the biting/nipping - redirection to an acceptable object to bite (puppy Nylabone) and using Bitter Apple spray. You can spray the object you don't want him to bite or give an unexpected little squirt in his mouth immediately after he bites. Glad to hear that the potty training is getting better. It takes time, but he will get there. These pictures of Max remind me of my BIL/SIL's first dog, Deacon, who had the same expressions! He was a golden retriever too. A little high strung though. We used to call him Deac, the Freak.
ROFL about Deac, the Freak! I do need to invest in the bitter apple spray - we have some deterrant right now, but it doesn't seem to be working - and it smells awful.
Potty training is going much better.
Loved the updates earlier today too! Wish we had been able to make it around the WS this trip. I guess there is always next time. Love the Easter eggs too. Methinks Marianne you guys! Gotta run and see how DS is doing with his planet painting. School projects, gotta love 'em!
I hope you were able to get the school project done.
Max is getting BIG...still cute though
cute idea for the egg packages....unbelievable they didn't get broken!
Marianne love the shirts!
I know, I just can't believe how big he is getting - I think he gained 5 lbs yesterday alone!
I agree - I can't believe those eggs didn't get broken!
Yay! They finally arrived!!!!! I'm so glad we could make y'all smile
I told you, I couldn't think of how on earth to mail that thread
Mr R had better not give you any attitude!!! Tell him Franny likes it just fine !
You'll be so happy to know... Mr R didn't throw a fit over the thread - I did a few long swoops in a satin stitch and he didn't skip a single stitch.... I am going to do a few more tests though - I am very hopefull. And I love how shiny the thread is, it looks so pretty!
Yah, but he's a total trouble maker. LOL
UGH...I cant keep up with you guys!!! Great update, I love the now and then pics...too freakin awesome seeing them grow up at Disney like that!!
Sorry Mike... I know - we are a talkative bunch - but we rarely stay on topic - that's part of the problem. Who knows, after reading my TR - you might just take up sewing too?
Glad you like the Now n' Then photos.
I must get up to my sewing room while MM is napping.
I'll bbl.
D~
DH used our camera last, and by that time everyone was going crazy and ready to leave. Oh well...glad I have one! It was great meeting everyone, and I hope next time we meet we can meet earlier in the day when not everyone is bone tired! 
except for clam chowder and clam cakes and yes I know how ironic that I am from the "OCEAN STATE"
And I love my curved Friskars too but I think mine are getting dull. They don't seem to be cutting like they use to.
I guess there is always next time. Love the Easter eggs too. Methinks Marianne 
