Star Wars: The Next Generation

Star Wars Party

Blast it was!, says Yoda. It really was the easiest party ever!

Complete with missions to find Princess Leia, lost treasure that Vader stole, Jedi training, light saber making, lots of light saber fights, galatic pizza, yoda soda, cake and ice cream, Darth Vadar pinata, Light saber limbo, and a few minutes of the Clone Wars cartoon. If that didn't wear out a bunch of wild boys, I don't know what will.

The boys were greeted by the Darth Vader head on a platter. They loved that part, and couldn't wait to smack the pinata. The cake was a light saber, as you can tell... it was the hardest cake I ever made, lots of cutting, and frosting crumby cake sides, not my fave. But, the boys loved it. I think their favorite parts were the battle scenes in the back yard, after they were trained by the master Jedi, of course. One of the boys told me this was his favorite b-day party ever...that made my day!

Blue and Gold Banquet 2011

YAY! Finally, Tyler has made it into scouts! He's been waiting for years for this... just two days before his birthday he was invited to the Blue and Gold Banquet. It was super fun for the whole fam. Dinner, cheers, cake decorating and cake eating contest, a pinata... it doesn't get much better. Tyler acted shy at first, but then got more comfortable. Jeff and he made a camp fire cake, it was pretty cool. Here is the cake eating contest, they would've won, except Tyler took longer to eat the cake. Jeff was the first Dad to finish.

Ruffle mania!

Dear Husband:
The house would be clean and perfectly organized every day when you get home, except that
a. We have the cutest, squishiest little girl in the world (partly your fault) and
b. I cannot control myself from making her fabulous ruffly pants...(because she is so precious in them, refer back to a.)

2 cute

A new friend here gave Ava this sweet, soft, silky nightie. How adorable!!! It's like a treasure from the past, it's pink and lacey. They just don't make many nighties like this anymore. I'm pretty sure I had a barbie that had one like this.
We still can't believe how lucky we are to have this little cherub to cuddle every day!

Avie baby-5 months

I can't believe she is almost 5 months in a few days! She has such an easy disposition, she is so sweet and precious! Very easy going, loves social interaction, loves to roll back and forth and maneuver her body all different directions! LOVES her toys!!! Is always excited to reach for them and stick them in her mouth...She's still super squishy. When you hold her, it's like holding a stuffed animal. Loves to eat her barley cereal and has tried sweet potatoes and sweet peas. I have heard that Pediatricians are changing their recommendations about holding certain kinds of foods back from babies and that they now say babies can eat a lot more variety, (of course texture permitting). She reaches for whatever we put in our mouth, even glasses of water. She is too delicious, we want to nibble on her every second. Jeff does, and she screams when he bites her too hard. Too many nicknames to count...Boula, Booga, (why those?, I don't know, they're not even close to Ava, but Jeff is the one who decides on each child's nickname) Avie...anything gets her to smile!

New love---upcycling!

Upcycling sounds like a weird sport like unicycling...but it's fun to rummage through Jeff's closet,*** I mean the goodwill bag, and find stuff to cut up to sew!
My first project was this tunic style top I made for Ava. I sorted through all this stuff and ended up with this.
I takes me forever to decided which fabric goes where...I can't wait to make another one, I already know how I'm going to improve it!

Candy Land.

It was fun. I love having parties for my kids. Especially when they appreciate it. Lily was so excited, she kept telling me how great it was to do a candy land, and then as she was helping me decorate and hang bulbs from our chandelier she said, "Mom, my party is going to be exquisite." Then she says, "Mom, I got that from Fancy Nancy."----(already guessed that, since we read it every night :) But her saying that made it all worth it!!!
She had such a fun time. Her and Brooklyn helped me with the cake and kept telling me how everyone was going to love it, Lily's friend said it was an awesome party (probably because I gave her a whole plate of Cheetos...). Lily's friends got her PERFECT presents, one gave her a LPS with a girl and Lily was just so thrilled, almost speechless, then she said, with a huge smile, "Wow, this has a lot of accessories." She is Fancy Nancy reincarnate. The played musical chairs to the song "lollipop", played pin the gumdrop on the gingerbread house, decorated a gingerbread house, had a special visit from the snow princess, played bingo with m & m's and strawberry cake (that Jeff loved :) decorated with every land from the game. I then sent them away with candy flavored chapstick, candy shaped lip gloss, a tootsie roll bank, a candy watch and a toothbrush! It was a delicious party.
But Please. Do. not. let me see candy for awhile!

For the love...

Since we've moved here, I've had a few extra moments (in between changing diapers, that is) to sew projects that have been filed away in my head for years... Of course having another girl has inspired a few more of those ideas. And realizing I have about 10+ more years to sew precious ruffly girly clothes! (After that, I might have to wait for grandbabies... you know teenagers don't wear things their mamas sew, unless it's a prom dress. That's actually how long I've been sewing, since I was 14. I made myself an Easter dress, then homecoming dresses, prom dresses...now dresses for my beautiful daughters. Nothing is more exciting to me than creating something beautiful out of raw ingredients. Even though I'm careless, impatient, not a perfectionist, messy, and I iron on the floor when I'm in a hurry, the fabric calls to me. I read a quote this week that sums it up perfectly for me. "True art is characterized by the irresistible urge in the creative artist!"---Albert Einstein
These are some shoes I made for Ava the other day.

The other picture are my first cake pops. I made some with a friend a few years ago, but these were my first. A preview for Lily's Candy Land party.