Hello out there?

I don't know if anyone still reads this thing.  I've been a bit tied up lately.  You know, with another one of these....















So, needless to say, there is no sleep and peace around here lately (unless there is a baby on top of me!)  I have had time to make a cake for my sweet little niece who just turned 4... WHERE DID TIME GO?!!  She had a Tinkerbell birthday party and I was asked to do her cake again this year. So of course I had to make a Tinkerbell cake!  It's been a tradition so far that i make her cake, and it's quite the honor.  I'll share this with you.

I'm pretty proud of it since it's my first time doing flowers or scroll work... and I stood on my feet for 8 hours making this cake...after just having a baby! Well, down to baby business.... his name is Oliver.  He has quite a set of pipes on him.  He has red hair like my hubs.  His brother is absolutely smitten with him and wants to help me as much as he can.  He's turned our life upside down.  My heart aches to be with him while I'm at work.  I never thought I could love my first child as much as I do, and I certainly never thought there would be room for another child in my heart.  But, by goodness, there certainly is!  I'm hoping to post some recent projects as much as I can.  My sewing room is now inhabited by a miniature red headed boy, so I'm not sure if there will be much more sewing in my future.  But, I hope to try :)  Thanks for checking in :)
Oh, and here's more of my little men :)

Halloweeeeeen!

So, we had an amaaaazing Halloween, and an amazzzing 2nd birthday for Biggie Smalls.  I'll start with Halloween, and hopefully will be able to add more pictures later.  Here are just a few.  We attended Truck or Treat with my nephew that his preschool threw.  It was really cool.  Carter got to climb all over big trucks, fire trucks, motor cycles, jump houses and play all sorts of learning games.  We found the best costume at Target, decided not to get it, and then at the last minute picked it up with a great discount!!  This gnome costume was a huge hit and Carter loved every minute of it also.  Hope you do too!

curse out loud

I'm obsessed with baby booties.  Really... obsessed.  I didn't know about them when Carter came along, but he would have had a million of them if I had known.  I love making them for my friends and thinking about the sweet little precious baby feet that will be in them.  I feel sure they aren't as crazy about them as much as I am.  Oh well. 
Last night, that sweetness was thrown out the window.  I usually use the Stardust Shoes pattern, which is relatively easy once you get it down after a few trial and errors.  I found this new pattern and just died.  I was so excited that one of my co-workers is having a girl and I could try it out on her.  Love the look of this shoe.  Hate what it did to me last night and this morning.  I cut all the pieces the night before to save me some time, then started piecing it together and getting it so pretty last night.  Then, the inevitable happened.  I looked at the strap closely and noticed that a quarter of it hadn't been sewn in with all the other layers and could rip off very easily.  Of course, this strap was one of the first things to be put on and I noticed this as I was doing the VERY LAST step in trying to get this shoe together.  It was so late, so I cursed whimpered loudly to myself at my table and retired for the evening thinking that I would just not have this little handmade item in my gift to my friend.  I got up and called into to work so I could work on my booties (I'm so bad!) and then set out to fix them.  So, I tried to pull out the seams to the booties and ended up ripping the top portion of one of the shoes.  I cut out a new pattern and started all over again.  The other bootie was fine, but looking a little worn around the edges of my fabric.  I trudged ahead.  A little too nonchalantly.  I sewed the fabric inside out.  Of course.  Out comes the seam ripper again.  I sew it again, move forward, and make it to the next step in the pattern.  Then, realize that i sewed that inside out TOO!  Out comes the seam ripper again.... (ggrrrr!!)  At this point the fabric is a pile of strings.  Fix the mistake, get to the last step.  Then I realize.... that stupid strap is in the wrong place AAAAAND it's STILL not connected to the fabric!!! AAAAAGGGGGHHH!! ...***insert steaming head here***...

Note to self- when you've worn the threads down in your fabric, your seam ripper goes into hiding, and you get so mad you start cursing like a sailor and then snorting- it's time to hang it up.

Ducky baby shower

Phillip's cousin is having a baby.  Nobody knew what it was, so we went very gender neutral and stuck with the duck theme.  My camera's battery is dead, I can't find the charger (stillll!!), and I can't find the cable to connect my camera to my computer..... sooo..... my cell phone will have to do (again!!!)

Here is the diaper cake.  Yup, it's a little lopsided, but only b/c I was just looking at it to see how the decorations were coming together before I took it to the shower.  It was very plain b/c she is not a "frills and lace" kind of girl.  I found a beautiful green ribbon that didn't clash with the print on the diaper, and then I found a ribbon of baby bottles in yellow that went on top of the green.  It was my favorite part of the cake, but I think I'm the only one who noticed. 

(and yes, that is an old metal helmet with a "medic" symbol in the background.... This is one of the little things that makes my husband so weird, and it makes me love him even more....)

The mother-to-be is not a girlie girl in the slightest bit.  She is not the kind of girl you would slap a "baby sock corsage" on, or even a beautiful rose.  So, I got a painted wooden duck from Hobby Lobby, hot glued a pin back to it, tied a ribbon around it, and used rub on transfers from a Mother's Day pack that I found.  The only full word that was in the pack was "Mommy" and the rest of the words were cut up from other sentences that were on the page.  It think it turned out pretty well.  I think it's actually something I will do again if I need to.  It was SUPER cute.

Wish I had gotten more pics from the shower.  But, enjoy the pin and the diaper cake anyway.  Thanks for checking in.

Carter is growing and changing every day.  Little man decided to start potty training himself and started sleeping in a big boy bed all in one week.  It's been a crazy ride.  Can't wait to catch you up on it!

Chicken & Waffles

That title in itself send my sensory issues overboard and my head spinning.  There is a new place close to my office called "Dame's Chicken & Waffles" in downtown Durham.  They are having their soft opening right now and I went in to get a check on how things are.  The menu in our office had a lot of items that sound out-of-control-good.  They also have a good variety of "schmere's" and butters that sound really great too.  I got the "Classy Hen", and it was definitely one of the more simple items on the menu.  It was a choice of a fried or grilled boneless chicken breast, a side (mac & cheese, greens, or grits), and waffle.  It was beautifully presented, even in my to-go box.  I snuck a peak at everyone's meals in the restaurant and it definitely looked promising.  With a sweet tea it came out to $11.97.  Way over priced for the product.  Bring it down to $8 (without drink) and I'm definitely on board.  The waffle was a good size, and amazing.  It had a great tinge of cinnamon or clove.  The chicken was fresh out of the fryer and was good also, but had an unexpected spiciness to it  (but it certainly didn't keep me from devouring the whole thing!).  I know the waffle and syrup are supposed to pair well with it as a bite together with the chicken, but it's just not my thing, and I just preferred to eat it separate.  The syrup was yummy, as well as the chocolate hazelnut spread that I substituted for the usual almond that it came with.  The guys running it were very nice and eager to make sure I got everything I needed.  I'm looking forward to their grand opening on August 24th.  Their extended menu looked great and I'm excited to try their salads and sandwiches.  The decor was very pretty.  It's definitely got some of the historic downtown Durham appeal inside with some beautiful architecture, and it's painted different shades of brown with soft blue accents.  It definitely made me want to go home and paint my house.  I think the place will definitely do well once they have a full menu and lower their prices.  Here's to hoping they stay open, and then have a breakfast menu with their delicious waffles and some bacon! 
A crappy pic from my cell phone of my take-out "Classy Hen" (I'm already loving the name!):

I grabbed a business card on the way out and their website is www.dameschickenwaffles.com
Good luck Dame's!  Hope it goes well for you!

Last Call

Sooo sad to be enjoying the last part of the VERY LAST JAR of my incredible Strawberry Jam I made this spring.....

What a yummy way to start off the day at work though!

Planning Period

It's almost that time again..... birthday palooza and autumn!!  EEEEEKKK!!  This girl is soooo excited!  The marching bands are hitting the fields for practice, and soon we will be able to go watch football games (not so excited), watch the half time shows (very exciting if you were part of the amazing Pride of the Mountains like I was!!!), and see all the beautiful colors in the trees.  Paisley's birthday is August 18th.  My sister's birthday is September 28th.  My dad's is September 30.  My b-day is October 2nd. (AND IN CASE YOU DIDN'T CATCH THAT, IT MEANS 3 BIRTHDAYS WITHIN A 5 DAY PERIOD!!) Carter's birthday is October 12th.  This girl has got to kick it into gear.  Paisley has requested butterfly cupcakes for her party and I've been scheming and planning already.  I'm also gearing up for a train themed birthday party for Carter. 

I love a website called youcanmakethis.com  It has amazing tutorials and patterns that keep my creative juices flowing.  They sent me my monthly newsletter that included several Halloween projects (EEEEEK!!  That's another one to plan for!!) and it reminded me how close all these events are.

...........Seriously... let me catch a breath and back-track for a second, because I truly just remembered about Halloween!!  Oh, the planning for costumes to do!!  yayyyyyy!!!............

Ok, snap back to reality.  That site got me thinking about all the fall decor that I love putting around my house and how there were so many projects I wanted to get around to last year, and never did it.  I was sooooo excited about this little thing here from Beth's website that I went and got the fabric, stuffing, ribbons, and wires..... but never did it. 

Insert big "FAILURE" here.

I can't wait!!  Oooooohhh!!  I'm so excited to jump back into it!!  Gotta get back to work, but I had to splurge my energy and excitement somewhere!!