Revamping Things....

Remember these ugly trays?!...

Well I finally finished them and here's the one that worked out....

I used chalkboard spray paint and then covered the inside with newspaper and sprayed the outer frame with a pretty blue color!

But when I pulled off the paper, it still felt like something was missing so it sat for awhile as I tried to come up with something to spruce it up.

Enter some mini bunting...

and I'm in love!

I just glue gunned the whole thing together, so it was super easy and quick to make.

I've been saving these buttons for a while, waiting for the right project to show them off and I think this is perfect!

How cute is that little flag?!?

I have the chalkboard up in my kitchen and I'm loving it as a place to write out encouraging verses that I need to see all the time...

because let's face it, as mom's we need all the encouragement that we can get :)

***Update: This chalkboard was featured on these two blogs!!! Yay!!***

And remember how there were 2 trays....

one was a giant craft FAIL. Seriously.

I used a different kind of spray paint on this one and obviously it didn't take to the chalkboard paint. Oh well, I have one and when I have the urge, I'm sure I'll sand this one down and do something with it.

And it being Valentine's Day and all, I figured I'd brag on Zach a bit and show you what Aubrey and I got. The stuff above was for Aubrey and you should have heard her squeal when she saw it waiting for her this morning! It's just a shame Zach didn't get to see her reaction.

And these are my fabulous flowers....

So pink and purple and wonderful! Well done husband, well done.

Now all I'm hoping for is to actually see him tonight... pretty sure that won't happen with the rotation he's on, but a girl can dream right?!

Will you be my Valentine?

Zach and I celebrated our second Valentine's Day in Grenada yesterday. I didn't get the usual dozen roses that I got most other years (along with yummy chocolate), but instead I got some gifts straight from New York City!! How much better could it get?! Zach got me this really cute mug from Starbucks and a necklace from H&M, which he picked out by himself (can you tell I'm proud?!). The reason that I didn't get flowers hinges mainly on a story that I must share which happened last year right around this time. A poor, innocent, unsuspecting Zach walked into a flower shop just down the road from us (which by-the-way is the only florist on the island) and asked how much the roses were. The lady behind the counter said, "30EC (it's about $13 Canadian)" and Zach said, "Oh, for six?" to which the lady replied, "No, just for one.". Zach looked at her, picked his jaw off the ground, and said, "Well, how much for the six then?", thinking, well six should be a bit of a deal. The lady told him that the six would be $180 EC, she obviously was lacking some business skills. Zach nearly lost it, he is Menno after all. He just mumbled a, "No thanks" and walked out. He came home and, after explaining why he had no flowers for me, felt like a bit of a cheap-skate. He then told me that I could use the money for shopping purposes when we got home, which I was completely in favour of! So this year he decided think ahead a bit and take matters into his own hands. This year I was the one to not buy a gift (or think ahead and get one from home), so I guess we're even:)



Me displaying the gifts I got from Zach.



There was a heart in my coffee, I thought it was pretty cool. You know, it being Valentine's Day and all...
And no, Zach didn't put it there. He's good, but not that good.

Pictures from home

Marcy and I, not sure what got into us?!


Zach and his dad during one of their many Crokinole games (who knew people still played it).


Zach and I on Christmas Eve.


Myself, Karla and Marcy at Dennis and Anna's wedding.


One of the many snow shots I took for Zach, he was already in Grenada when the snow finally decided to fall :(

Welcome baby number 8!!!

The latest edition to the Kliewer Clan arrived this morning. Silas Gideon was born just after midnight, weighing in at 8lbs 8oz and looking about as cute as it gets. Congrats Will and Linda and thanks again for waiting until we got home to have him:) Well, it has been a while since I last updated the blog, but in my defence we are now in Canada and don't have a lot of free time. Zach and I are doing awesome even though we are both fighting off some sort of sickness. This cold weather is getting to us, but we're not complaining. We're enjoying it while we can and when given the choice between rainy/cold and 45degrees, it's a no brainer! You may all think that we're crazy to give up the hot weather, but Christmas in a hot country is just SO wrong. Speaking of, it is Christmas tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited about it! I LOVE Christmas, it's my (and Zach's) favorite time of year. And believe me, we have been making the most of it. Nothing like sipping a Starbucks coffee while going for drives to look at Christmas lights. Not to mention all the family/friends time, just the best! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas season, I know we will!

A Grenadian Christmas!

My friend Laura hosted a Christmas brunch this last Saturday and it was a lot of fun. I must say, she put together quite the party for Grenada (for North American standards as well), I was very impressed. She had a huge spread of food, decorated her little one room dorm with palm fronds and a little mini Christmas tree (that she borrowed from a friend who is staying here for Christmas and felt the need to get in the spirit a little more) and had us all bring gifts for a gift exchange. The pictures are of the group of girls that attended and then two pictures of me, one with Kristin and the other with Laura (yes, I know that sounded vain, but lets face it, a blog is a pretty vain thing. What makes us think that we need to dedicate and entire website to ourselves?!). Needless to say, it was a great party and it did a great job of getting us in the Christmas spirit! We ended up ruining all of Laura's effort though, we went to the beach afterwards to work on our tans!

Shots from the past few weeks

Our Thanksgiving spread!


All our friends at Donny and Lisa's house where we had our "feast".


Peter and Sari on their anniversary.


Laura and I at the church's Ladies Christmas Luncheon(which we had before Thanksgiving!).


The table at the luncheon, we had a gingerbread women at each of our spots. The girls did a great job of trying to make it feel christmasy dispite the 45C heat!