I'm not a big fan of Disney's 1951 cartoon version of Alice in Wonderland. In fact, I hate it. But I am a big fan of Mr. Depp (who isn't) and I am also a really big fan of Tim Burton, so I'm pretty darn excited for this version of Alice in Wonderland.
Especially when I see these:
too bad I have to wait until March 2010...why must they taunt me so?
My niece turned 3 last month and I helped her mom with this castle cake. Tara did most of the work, I just helped towards the end. It turned out so cute!
My friend Rachel's little girl had her sixth birthday this month. It was a strawberry shortcake themed birthday. I LOVED strawberry shortcake when I was a kid. If I ever had a bad dream my mom used to say "just go back to bed and think about strawberry shortcake" and I would. So, I convinced Rachel to let me do the cakes for the party. She just had a baby and is sleep deprived, so she didn't put up a fight at all.
The big cake for all Maura's Guests
The little cake for the Birthday Girl.
(Tara helped me with both the stawberry cakes, I can't take full credit!)
This next cake I made this weekend for my little brother's girlfriend. He told me different things he wanted on the cake, and I tried my best to incorporate them all. I think the three layers intimidated me to the point of no return. I was shaking like crazy when I tried to pipe the lines on the blue cake. BLAH!! I kinda think the Mermaid is cute though.
I guess it's not too bad since I've never really piped anything that wasn't just stars all over the place. I need to practice more.
Speaking of practice...my mom and I bought a quilting machine! Whoo Hooo!
However, until last night I've been very frustrated with it. I bought a bunch of flannel to practice on and every time I would use the machine something would go wrong...my tension would be off on the bobbin, the bottom piece wasn't pulling at the same rate as the top, so I'd have gathered fabric on the back...but last night, I did an entire blanket with NO problems! I'm feeling really pumped everyone! I did loops and hearts last night and it is pretty darn cute. I am going to sell the flannel blankets I'm practicing with on etsy soon. They will be really inexpensive since I'm not very good at it yet, so if you need a baby shower gift...you know who to call! I'll post more on that later.
My company had a Summer Picnic last night in Provo Canyon. We always have a really good time at these parties. They make sure to have lots of things for the kids to do: art projects, scavenger hunts and prizes, and the adults talk and play Bocce Ball.
This year I asked my mom if she would come to the party and paint on the kids faces. She made up a chart of things the kids could pick from...butterfly, spider webs, dinosaurs, flowers etc. So she painted some kids this way.
So cute.
Here is Jefferson getting his web painted on him.
Can you see the little boy next to Jefferson? With his entire face painted? When it was his turn he asked if she could paint him like a tiger! Once Jefferson realized he wasn't going to look like spiderman with a little web on his cheek, he decided he wanted to be an animal as well...
...in full character here...
After that, we had lots of little tigers and leapords running around the park. It was so fun! I took lots of pictures, but I'm not sure how the other parents feel about me posting photos of their kids, so you'll just have to imagine it.
Thanks Mom! You made it a night for those kids to remember!
Here he is as I told him the paint must come off before bed:
Sad little kitty...
Bad kitty! Bad Kitty!
I have been looking forward to T-Ball since Jefferson was born. I used to go to my nephew's T-Ball games when he was little, and they were the best entertainment you could ask for. Jefferson's Team Name is "The Monsters".
The first game, Jefferson saw the catchers mask and wanted to be the catcher. This is him a little upset because he had to be off to the side instead of directly behind the batter. (those 4 year olds tend to let go of the bat when they swing...)
Here he is...up to bat!
He hits the ball...
and he runs to first!
Thanks to Lisa and her boys, Jefferson knows how to be in "ready" position when playing 1st base.
Go Monsters!!
This weekend Ryan wanted to take Jefferson to Southern Utah to the U-DIGG Fossils. This place is in the middle of no where. Actually, I take that back...once you get to the middle of no where...you keep going for about 1 more hour on a dirt/gravel road. I kept thinking, this is like when you hear about bodies being found and you think "what were they DOING out there in the first place??" Turns out, lots of people are just crazy enough to drive on that road to dig for fossils. About 10 different cars showed up after us.
Hammering some small rocks
Moving on to some bigger rocks
Found One!!
Found ANOTHER ONE!!
We ended up taking home a shoe box FULL of them.
You will all be receiving one as a gift very very soon.
You should start looking for a nice place to display it in your home.
After the Big Dig, we headed back to Delta where we camped and fished. This was Jefferson's first camp out. He had a lot of fun, but was very nervous all day thinking about sleeping outside when it got dark. He did a great job and slept through the night.
Most of his time was spent playing with Dinosaurs and Trucks in the Dirt.
Here is my "city slicker" in the woods.
Ryan suggested we sing a camp song and Jefferson broke out in "Dance Magic Dance". Nothing like a little David Bowie to help us bond with nature.
Good Times. Happy to be Home!
Ryan and I were in Washington DC for Memorial Weekend. Ryan was there for work, and I tagged along for fun.
Here are a few highlights:
The Capital Building
Me in front of the White House
Jackson Pollock's Number 1 (Lavender Mist)
The highlight of Ryan's trip. Salvador Dali's Last Supper
(Rachel: Remember when we saw this? They moved it from where it was, but it's still on a wall all by itself)
Me at the Washington Monument
Ryan at the Lincoln Memorial
(Jefferson saw The Night at the Museum 2 while we were in DC, so when we got home and showed him the pictures he was very excited and said "that's the dude!!". Ryan took lots of pictures inside the Museum of Natural History for Jefferson. (I stayed outside and sat on the curb) Jefferson asked Ryan if he saw Larry or Dexter the monkey. Ryan said he couldn't find Dexter. (Larry wasn't there because we went during the day...and Larry works the night shift...obviously)
We also went to the International Spy Museum
I was hoping they had a lipstick pistol in the gift shop...but no such luck.
They did have lipstick pens...lame.
We had our Family Pictures taken last week. This was the first time we have ever done this. I really don't like having my picture taken, but when I saw my friends family photos, I decided I should get ours done too. I booked the same photographer (Lindsey Mangum) and I'm so glad that I did, she was great! I don't have all the photos back, but she posted a few of us on her blog.
She was especially good with Jefferson. He was in a "silly" mood the entire time. She never showed any frustration with him, and that helped him (and me) relax.
One More:
Finally Finished Binding it Last Night.
I think this might be my favorite quilt I have made so far. Doesn't it look nice on my couch? It will look even better on my new sister-in-law Jill's couch, it's her birthday gift. I would have never thought to make a black and white quilt on my own. In fact, I kept wanting to add red to it, but my brother told me that she would like it just black and white better. I'm so glad he did because I absolutely love it.
I realize I should have posted this yesterday, but this picture wasn't taken until last night. Happy (late) Cinco de Mustache!
My sister-in-law, Tara, took me to a fabric store in Alpine on Saturday. I had never been to this store. It was very small, but when I walked in the door I saw this:
I had to buy it up and make a quilt! The lady at the Alpine store actually told me that they have Charm Packs of this line at another store in Lehi, so I bought my fabric there.
I went home and Jefferson helped me lay out all the squares. We covered the entire floor of my sewing room. We had a very good time. I've never thought to do this with him before, he actually asked if he could help. He likes to make little piles as much as I do. Even when he was tiny...he would play with his toys by lining them up in organized rows...he still does it at 4. I'll have to post a picture of him doing it...I have plenty of them.
Anyway, I have my squares all sewn together, now I just need to add sashing and borders. I'm super excited about it. Poor Ryan had to listen to me describe it over the phone while he was in Denver this weekend.
I will post a picture of it soon.
I have been quilting a lot lately. The quilts I have made have all been gifts, so I feel sort-of silly posting a blog about them. Maybe in the future I'll do one "quilts I've made this year" post. That way I won't be singling out any of the gifts. I'm really excited to be making a quilt that is for MEEEEE. Don't get the wrong idea...I have yards and yards and yards of fabric that I am hoarding for my very own quilts, I just need to find the patterns I want to use them with...and I need to find about 10 more non-business hours in a day...that would be nice too.
