Super busy week!

Thank you everyone for your thoughts for my mother in law! They let her out of the hospital last Thursday and continues to do well. Still no idea how it all happened, but the good thing is that she's okay now.
Last weekend, my sister in law and her family came down to visit. While we were up visiting them last week, she was telling us that our eldest nephew (who is 8) was saying that "Uncle Eric NEEDS to take me to a football game." I was thinking it was too bad we didn't know that earlier because taking him to the Troy game would have been perfect and easier to get tickets for rather than finding tickets for a Big 10 game. Well, while I was thinking that, Eric was thinking, hey, I CAN take him to a football game if Aunt Moriah agrees to give up her ticket. Which is what I (somewhat) graciously did. And it ended up Eric found another ticket so his brother in law could go and I got to spend time with my sister in law and our three year old nephew. He's kind of going through a very whiney stage, and I know three is a tough age, but really, I'm afraid to have kids now!
The 8 year old wanted to leave the game after the 1st quarter! Once they bought him some nachos and a tshirt, he was happy to stay, so I guess they had a good time. After the game, we went to Dave and Buster's for dinner (on the 8 year old insistance) and we also played a ton of Wii.
I made caramel apples for them too. I ended up sending them home with them because we went out for ice cream and I didn't want to hype them up too much on sugar.

My glass workshop was cancelled, which worked out fine since we had guests, but I'm really hoping that this week's one isn't cancelled!

Weekly Update

Last weekend the inlaws visited! We had fun playing Rock Band with Rhonda (Eric's sister) while the parents watched. And fell asleep. So, I guess we weren't too horrible if you could sleep through our playing!
Eric's parents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary next month, so we took them out to J. Gilberts for dinner. Great food there, and the chocolate souffle was awesome!
The inlaws left on Sunday, and we were going to take Eric's car to get new tires, when one of the neighbors sideswiped Eric's car when he was backing out. Eric is fine, his back bumper is just scratched up. The guy didn't own the car (it was his brother's) and didn't bother to give us his insurance info or his drivers' license. I kind of suspect that he doesn't have either. Anyway, it totally bummed Eric out, understandably.
This weekend I have my first of many glass workshops! This time is making blown glass pumkins. I'm pretty excited, and will post pictures of my creation next week.

How Cool is this?

So we were eating dinner on the deck the other night (Tuesday) with our friends, when a hot air balloon landed behind the row of condos to the right of us, in the elementary school parking lot! We ran over to the school and watched as several others landed. It was really neat to watch them deflate the balloons and pack them up, and totally unexpected. Next time we have a dinner party, I don't know how we'll top that!

Another thing on the cool list: check out this view from The Hay-Adams Hotel in Washington, DC! Part of the wedding we attended was held on the roof, right across the street from The White House. It was an awesome wedding, the food was spectacular! And it was great seeing Eugene and Jen, Steve and Jen, Bryon and Judy (the happy couple!) and Angry Chris (aka Eurotrash) Who, btw, is still angry, even after spending 10 months surrounded by the beauty of the Meditteranean living it up. Go figure.
My inlaws are coming to visit this weekend for eye exams. Chris hitched a ride back to Ohio with us from the wedding and stayed for a few days, so I feel like my routine is totally off (and I don't have a ton of time to pick up for the inlaws!)

Blogging: so much fun, the whole family will love it!

My sister emailed me this weekend announcing her new blogsite, angelstern.blogspot.com in part becuase of my blog. Check out her site and all of her cool craft projects that she's been working on! I love her jellyfish plate! (go, check it out!!)
Yes, we are one talented family, if I do say so myself!
Another family trait (at least all of the Chandler women) is that we all love Alexandrite. Whenever I come across any Swarovski crystal in alexandrite, or Czech glass beads in alexandrite, I have to buy it. Call it a compulsion. What is so cool about this stone, and also the glass/crystal replicas, is that it changes color depending on the light source (yes, its partly an eye nerd thing!) The stone is like "an emerald by day, a ruby by night" in daylight, it looks green, in candlelight, it looks red. The glass isn't as dramatic, but in daylight and incandescent light, its lavender, in fluorescent light, its an aqua/blue. So, can you see why its so mesmerizing? (BTW, my avatar is an angel with alexandrite czech glass wings) Anyway, I made some earrings with alexandrite czech glass for sale on Etsy, and trying to take photo of the color change is practically impossible! Check it out on the etsy site, and let me know what you think. I hope I was able to capture at least a hint of the color change!