Happy Birthday Dad!

We had an impromptu family dinner party tonight to celebrate Grandpa Flint's birthday

Cheesecake bars with homemade strawberry jam and lemon meringue pie

(The candles spell out "51")

Uncle Jared and Mason spending some quality time together

Simple paper bunting and some festive place mats liven up our earth tone decor

(The daffodils on the table are from Trader Joe's. If you have a TJ's near you, go pick some up. They are $1.29 a bunch and I guarantee they will brighten your day. These are yellow with orange centers!)

Tacos + virgin margaritas + good company = the perfect weeknight celebration

Bunny Bean Bags

I saw these bunny bean bags last year (although I opted to make Jelly Bean Bags) and couldn't wait to make them this Easter. Mine look a little more like mice but I still think they're cute.

The bunnies need a proper home don't they? There is a great hobo bag tutorial here, but the bag I made is just a simple drawstring pouch.

A game of bunny bean bag toss, anyone?

Weekend Fun

Lots of time outside enjoying the gorgeous Spring weather!

Watching Daddy mow the lawn is fascinating

Warning: Do not leave baskets of laundry unattended

A rousing game of chase-Astro-around-the-yard

Time to climb

Finally, the "Follow me Mommy!" look

Have a great week!

This sewing business...

...is a slippery slope.

First you're just replacing buttons.

Then you try making a pillow.

Or maybe some curtains.

Next thing you know you can't even pick up a shirt or dress without adding your own embellishment.

Or maybe it's just me.

I used applique for the "2" and the basketball on this tank top for Vince. They were from the same fabric I used on his tool belt. The basketball trail was done with embroidery.

The "E" on this dress for Ella was also applique and I used this tutorial for the adorable flower (which I might be obsessed with making now-- they are SO easy and cute!)

(No, I didn't add the pockets and buttons, I just didn't take a "before" picture so the first shot is the back of the dress. Ha!)

Is no item of clothing safe???

New sewing this weekend though-- at least not involving clothing.
Felt bunnies? Yes. Homemade marshmallows? Oh yeah.

Happy Friday!

Mason's 1 Year Pictures

Last week we (finally) got to shoot Mason's 1 year photos!

Mel, from The Larson Lingo did the shoot and she did an absolutely AMAZING job.

As you can see, Mason wasn't shy.

Mase's sweet "1" shirt was a gift from Heather. (Heather, you are way too talented.)

Are you melting? Because I am.

Tage gives me this look too.

Future heart breaker.

This one is my absolute favorite.

Mel, you did an incredible job. I want to remember my "baby" like this forever.

Thank you!

P.S. I had these photos (edited and everything) three days later. If you're in Northern California send her an email to see when she's available. You will be so happy with the results.

Weekend Fun

Recipe found here

2 lbs. organic kiwis: $3

3 lbs. sweet potatoes: $4.50

5 small organic avocados: $3.25

1 bunch broccoli: $1

2 1/2 dozen organic eggs: $5

Auntie Mel came to visit

"Vinny Madness"

Need an Easter dress?

It is Friends & Family weekend at Gap Inc.

Email me (or leave a comment) and I'll send you a coupon with a barcode on it. You get 30% off at Old Navy, Gap, Gap Outlet, Banana Republic and Banana Republic Outlet stores. Including clearance!

I keep toying with the idea of making Mason a cute little vest for Easter.

Finding one on sale would be so much easier though.

P.S. Have you heard about Starbucks' "Free Pastry Day"? HERE is a coupon for a free pastry you can use next Tuesday until 10:30AM. As if I need another reason to visit Starbucks.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

No one in this household got pinched today-- at least not for a lack of green.

Incredible how much this little guy has changed since last year.

Mason and Daddy wore matching St. Patty's Day t-shirts. Recognize that onesie? I printed out the word "lucky" in a font I liked and used four heart shapes for the shamrock, then freezer paper stenciled them on. The whole thing could not have been easier. I have to admit, it totally brought me back to the days of puff painting t-shirts and visors (you know you did that) only this was way cooler.

We hope you had a great St. Patrick's Day!

Fabric signs

Thanks to Julie at Joy's Hope, I am pretty much addicted to making these.

Aside from sharing the link to that tutorial, I decided to post these pictures for a few reasons.

To thank my friend Kim for tolerating all my handmade gifts. Ella is the recipient of far too many of my "I want to try that!" whims.

So that one day when I actually learn how to sew (and get a fancier sewing machine than my 10-year old starter Singer) I can look back and laugh at myself see improvement. It is a fluke when I can sew a straight line.

Put a stop to any misconceptions that I am at all talented at this crafty business. I just find enjoyment in it. By no means am I good at it. Which means, YOU can do this stuff too, self-proclaimed "non crafty" people.

See that "a"? This sign was the BEST one. You should have seen the others up close. Kim, you should probably hang those signs very high in Ella's room.

Weekend Fun

Mason's first "real" steps!

(Ignore the part where he stops to pick up something off the floor and eats it...)

For some reason when Mason is wearing shoes he feels more confident walking (as hilarious as it is to watch him clomp around with them on). On Saturday Mase crawled over to the shoe basket by the front door and dug out his shoes for Daddy to put on. Tage did and off he went.

Mommy's sweet yard sale finds-- a kitchen for Mase ($20), a child's bike seat ($2) and a bunch of books to donate to this cause.

That kitchen is getting a makeover soon, but we love it already!

When life gives you lemons, make cookies

After we moved the second time last year I haven't been able to locate an entire box of kitchen supplies. Every so often I'll be looking for something and cannot find it anywhere. And we live in 900 square feet. There is not a lot of room for things to be "hidden."

Annoyed that I couldn't find my shamrock cookie cutter last night, I settled on using the 1" heart cutter.

It was that or a onesie-shaped cookie cutter.

Then I realized...

Hearts can make shamrocks!

Here is Ina Garten's "Best Ever Pecan Shortbread" recipe I used:

3/4 lb. unsalted butter

1 c. sugar

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 tsp. pure almond extract

3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 c. small-diced pecans

Cream together butter and sugar until just combined. Add vanilla and almond extracts and mix until smooth. Add flour and salt and mix. Add pecans and mix until incorporated. Shape into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes. Roll the dough 1/2 inch thick and cut with cookie cutters. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Let cook and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

Adventures in fabric dying

It sounds silly, but I have been looking for an excuse to try fabric dying. I found this tutorial and thought it would be a good way to "renew" some stained white clothes Mason has. I imagine it would work well for someone who is having a second (or fourth) child as you can turn pink onesies into brown, yellow into purple, white into whatever.

You get the idea.

An inexpensive packet of die (purchased with a 50% off coupon at JoAnn) turned two of Mason's white onesies into a perfect shade of Irish green. The dying process was super easy and when I initially took the onesies out of the die the coloring looked a little uneven but after washing and drying them, they looked great.

Embellished with some fabric and ric rac, that onesie is now ready for St. Patrick's Day. I am working on another one using freezer paper stenciling. We'll see how that goes...

Weekend Fun: Spring Training!

Every year growing up my parents would take me and my brothers to Scottsdale, Arizona to watch the Giants spring training. My dad's sister lives there with my uncle and three cousins who are about the same ages as us. We would go for an entire week during Easter Break and I have some awesome memories of those vacations. I love baseball so this was one tradition I was definitely going to carry on with Mason.

Last year he was just 2 months old when we made the trip down and Ella was only days old! It was so much fun to watch them play together. I am looking forward to looking at these pictures each year as the kids grow. We left Thursday night and arrived at Josh and Kim's 10 1/2 hours later. It was an absolutely gorgeous day so we took the kiddos to the park to play.

(Ella has some super funny faces, I am going to have to make a collage. This one was too cute.)

This was one of my favorite moments from the weekend. Hanging out in the back yard taking pictures of Mason and Ella playing and Josh and Tage throwing the Aerobie. Ella was having fun taking the rocks out of the planter and Mason was putting them right back in. So cute.

 Bath time with the babies! Kim has better pictures on her camera. I'm going to have to figure out how to get those from her. This one of Ella was pretty darn adorable though.

 Saturday was another beautiful Scottsdale day and we took in the Giants vs. Diamondbacks game.

 Ella, Josh and Kim

 My favorite picture from the weekend.

 The babes did so well at the game. They rolled around and played on the blankets, snacked, enjoyed the sun and the sights.

And now for our Mothers of the Year submission photo. Ella snatching a Jack Daniels bottle from the blanket next to us and Mason keeping entertained by my Aunt Mellissa and a can of Corona.

Me and Mase hanging out

 The babies after bath time having a little snack. Mase had a good time pushing Ella around in her high chair and she seemed to enjoy it too.

This... is Abby. Let me first say that I am not a cat person. I'm allergic so their fur makes my eyes and nose itch like crazy. Abby knows this. She follows me everywhere and wants to sit where I'm sitting. She would probably sit right on top of my head if she could figure out a way to get up there. I had to be sure to include her since she is always a big part of my visit to Josh and Kim's.

Sunday we hung out at Aunt Mellissa and Uncle Ed's. My cousins David, Brian and Lauren were all there and we watched old tapes of my dad and Aunt Missy when they were kids (from the 60's!) So cool to be able to go back in time and watch those videos.

 We left Sunday night and it felt like we had just gotten there. Thank you Josh and Kim, for letting us stay with you. I'm already looking forward to next year!