The beginning of the end

Oh my gosh. The big day finally came. I had to drop Blake off at Kindergarten today!!! It was bittersweet. Mostly sweet, but right at that moment when the line of kids started walking into class for the first time, I almost wanted to cry. I had heard about parents crying so much on the first day of Kindergarten, but didn't really see myself as one of them. I didn't cry, but it did tug at my heartstrings a little. My little baby boy is not a baby anymore! I know he will love school and will do great, but he must've been a little nervous, because he was aking for lots of hugs this morning. He must've given Ryan at least a half dozen before Ryan went to work. It's exciting and scary all at the same time. But we survived! I have to go pick him up now. I can't wait to find out how the big day went. By the way, he is DYING to ride the bus! I had to talk him into letting me take him today so I could take pictures and then tomorrow will be the first day to ride the bus. They think it is so cool for some reason...

Latest quilt

I just finished this quilt top & back a few days ago. I was excited about it because it was made solely from leftovers, yeah! Finally! It was the first one that I've done that I didn't have to buy any fabrics for, including the backside too. I have this thing with trying to use up left overs. I don't know why, I am not really that thrifty in other areas of my life. But with fabric, I am always trying to do that! I think that is why I don't particularly think my quilts are that cute. Because most of them usually start with scraps from another quilt. I tell myself that I am going to make this little quilt and "I will just use leftovers - all for the sake of just being at my sewing machine and sewing. Just because I love the whole process. But I won't spend any money on this one. No, no. It will just be scrappy and just give me something fun to work on." But I always end up needing to buy a bunch more fabrics to finish the quilt and by the end, I have spent a bunch of money on a quilt that I didn't specifically set out to do. But with this quilt I finally did it. I finally made an entire quilt top & back without buying any new fabrics. And, I think it turned out pretty decent. The only thing I will have to buy is batting. I haven't decided if I will quilt it myself or get it professionally done. I think I am leaning towards the latter though. This quilt was originally called Southern Hospitality and the blocks are "Cake Stand Blocks." It is just a throw size quilt (about 48" square.) Ryan asked me if it "had a purpose?" Do quilts really have to have a purpose? It is just fun o.k.?:) But, if it makes any of you feel better, I will probably put it in Maya's room, along with 3 or 4 other quilts o.k.? Do I sound a little self-conscious? I know I have an addiction.

Oh, the soft chewy goodness!

So, raise your hand if you love Rice Krispie Treats, but hate when they get hard 15 minutes after making them. Me too! I love these things and have been known to finish off a whole batch by myself! Not in one sitting, but over, say about a 12 hour time period. Follow these guidelines and they will be perfect for at least a couple of days (not that they will be around that long, but if they were - they would still be delicious.) Here is the trick, instead of the 3 Tbsp. of butter and one 10 oz. bag of marshmallows that the recipe on the box calls for, use 4 Tbsp. of butter and one 16 oz. bag of mini marshmallows. Keep the amount of Rice Krispies the same - 6 cups. Melt 1/4 c. butter on low heat in a large pot. When completely melted, add entire 16 oz. bag of mini marshmallows and stir. Continue stirring occasionally until completely melted. Remove from heat and gradually add rice krispies. Dump into a buttered 9x13 dish. Enjoy!
* I always get the namebrand ingredients. I'm not sure if that really makes a difference, but they sure turn out tasty! Good luck!

Maya's 3rd Birthday!

Maya had been talking about her birthday party for months! So I got kind of excited about it too and went a little above my standard cake and simple party decorations that I usually do. We found a really cute fish cake in an old Martha Stewart Baby magazine. That was the jumping off point for real goldfish in bowls for the favors, a wooden fishing booth so the children could "fish" for their goodie bag prizes, swimming and bubbles. The cake was completely from scratch, of course, since it was a Martha Stewart Cake. The frosting was really yummy. And, for the first time, I used my cake decorating set, with multiple colors and tips! Oh my! It was pretty involved, but I was happy with how it turned out. My sister-in-law Heather, was visiting here from Texas and she helped me a ton! She was the art director for the cake (She stayed up with me until the wee hours of the morning advising me on what step to do next on the cake.) She also gave us a huge gift of painting the ocean scene on the wooden fishing booth! She was up late for two nights painting and creating. It turned out great and the kids loved fishing for their prizes. For the fishing poles I used two big dowels, painted them green, drilled a hole in each one, and tied white sheer ribbon through the holes and a cute, black hook. Then I got clear paint cans from the craft store and put the prizes in those as the kids fished out their prizes. It was fun. But, I still don't know if it was worth all the work...

An afternoon at Grandpa & Gigi's

My kids love going to visit Grandpa & Gigi. Especially, so they can ride the horse, Danny. This will be one of the last times they will be able to ride Danny because my Grandpa and Grandma are moving.

Maya's birthday present

I was looking for an excuse to make Maya an apron and I knew her third birthday was the perfect opportunity. She LOVES to help me cook. She loves to push the stool over and help scoop, scrape, dump and stir. And, just like her Nana, she loves to eat the dough, batter, etc., no matter what kind it is! It is fun for me to see her natural domestic tendancies. Hence - the apron! It took just a few minutes at the fabric store to settle on these three (duck cloth) fabrics from Denyse Schmidt Designs. The fabic line is called County Fair. The apron pattern is called the Lizzy Jane Apron. It was my first attempt at using piping, ric rac, doing a pleat and making a pocket! It was a really fun project and Maya LOVES her new apron.