Little Rock Trip

So 2 weekends ago, Sydney and I went to visit my best friend, Lauren, in Little Rock. We had a great time. We just hung out. We did go to the Little Rock Zoo. It was fun. Here are some pictures:

Sydney - not happy!

Talking on the phone to dad. She loves talking to him on the cell phone.
Lauren also took us to a cupcake store! Whoo-hoo! : ) I had a vanilla and Sydney had some black bottom cupcake with cream cheese in the base. I have decided that every cupcake store I have to eat a vanilla cupcake with vanilla frosting. It's going to be my standard so I can rate cupcakes more efficiently. You know - to serve you, my faithful blog readers! haha.

And we're going to be moving in exactly one week! I can't believe it. We're very excited. Not for the moving process but to be back in Florida. Hopefully, all the hurricanes won't affect our move!

Computer Problems

I am so sorry for not posting in awhile. I've been traveling and came back to a dead computer. Really! It wouldn't work at all. Now, I'm typing on our new laptop! : ) Hopefully I'll load the software for pictures and show you what we have been up to. Check back soon for pictures!

Home, home on the range...

This weekend we went to visit Matt's sister, Jen, and her family. They recently moved to southwest Oklahoma so it was a fairly quick drive to see them. On Saturday, we went to this state park (I guess, I really don't know exactly what it was called). They had lots of buffalo and prairie dogs roaming around. We also some deer and a coyote. It totally reminded me of the "Home, home on the range" song. Anyway, he's the family picture out on the range! : )

The cousins.

Luring the prairie dog to eat goldfish.
Prairie dogs do in fact like goldfish crackers!
The buffalo grazing right by the side of the road.
Jen's birthday was on Saturday so "Happy Birthday" to you.

One more cute story, so on Sunday before we left we went to a playland thing at McDonalds (it was totally raining that day). There was some other bigger kids there going crazy and Sydney was intimidated but wanted to slide. So Robbie sat at the bottom of the slide guarding it so other kids wouldn't climb up. All the while, Lauren took Sydney and protected her while she went down. They were so cute protecting their little cousin from the other kids - we were joking about the family mafia starting! : )

Flowered Tank Top

Here is a tank top I made with the flowers from a few weeks ago. One of my many uses for these flowers. Sydney was quite happy to wear it and kept commenting on it all day. I just tried not to let her get any stains on the white tank top! : )

Have a great weekend!

The Weekend

Matt's parents came in for the weekend. Matt's dad is big into model trains and there is a train museum here in town with lots of model train exhibits. Sydney enjoyed it too! Here's a few pictures.

Today's Conversation

Sydney: (whining) I have a boo-boo on my finger!

Me: What would you like me to do about it?

Sydney: Amputate.

Me: Amputate?

Sydney: Yeah.

I thought is was funny she had never said that word before. I usually joke about amputating whatever limb is ailing at the moment- I guess she has caught on. Have a good weekend! : )

Sydney's new dress

I was hoping to make this last week for the "Week of Crafts" but didn't get around to it. I started last night and finished up this morning. I used the serger and it was so quit and all the seams look so professional - I love it! I used Simplicity Pattern 6796 and some Amy Butler fabric. Here's the finished product:

Have a good weekend.

Giggle Girls

Sydney and her cousin, Karalyn, are so funny together. They make up games and giggle the whole time they play. They are very sweet.

Week of Crafts - Friday

Today concludes the week. Thanks everyone for stopping by each day. I really appreciate. I have to say I like craft weeks - it motivates me to get stuff done. I like the feeling of accomplishment. Here is a scrapbook page for today's craft. The pictures are from last summer - look how much she's grown!

I also finished my order for the Chicago's Children Museum earlier this week and shipped it out to them. Here is just al small part of the order.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Week of Crafts - Thursday

I'm tired of using all those plastic bags at the grocery store for produce. My solution was to use the leftover mesh fabric (from the puzzle bags) and make my own. I used a ribbon to tie it closed. You can wash it and it doesn't weight anything (so no extra cost there). You can find them on Etsy too.

Sorry to picture of Syd today. Just a real quick post.

Week of Crafts - Wednesday

Whew! Just a couple more days. Here are some straight pins/stick pins I have made. You can tack paper and other ephemera up on a bulletin board with them if you like. Hmmm...I'm sure there is a lot of other uses too. : )

And, again, for the non-crafting type - here Sydney helping me craft!

Week of Crafts - Tuesday

My craft for today is homemade laundry detergent. It's alright you can call me weird. I don't know why I wanted to try it. It definitely cheaper and all natural (minus the Oxy-clean). It does clean just as well too. The recipe I used was:

1 bar of Ivory soap (grated)

1 cup Borax

1 cup Washing Soda

1/4 cup Oxy-Clean (optional)

You just have to use a couple tablespoons per load. I like it and it was so quick and easy to make (easier than a walk down the detergent aisle and deciding which kind to buy this time). You can use other bars of soap as well. You can find more recipes and info here. I used recipe #4.

And for all those you don't care about homemade laundry detergent (shame on you!), here's a picture of Sydney dressed in Matt's clothes.

Week of Crafts - Monday

I haven't done this is awhile so I thought it was time to do it again. I wanted something to stick in the packages when someone bought an item from my store - as a little promo item. I love these flowers (they are all over Etsy) and I was happy to find them on a tutorial. I thought they would be perfect. I have made a whole bunch and turn them into pins. I figured with the pins you can put them on purses, clothes, anything really. I have a lot more ideas swimming around in my head with these guys. I could probably do a whole week of items made with these flowers. Anyway...let's continue! : )

I designed myself a little logo with Photoshop and the pins the fit right on the card and "Viola!"

There is my jar full. I love looking at them and am very happy when I get to put one in a package! I hope my customers are happy when they find it too.

And for all of you who really don't care about crafts (shame on you!) - here's a picture of Sydney and her new love, Diego.

Crafts!

Holy Smokes I've been busy with crafts. These are just a few of the things I've been up to and this doesn't include the continuous sewing of felt food. I just received another big order for the Chicago Children's Museum which I have been working on too. Here are some tags for the Etsy store.

I needed some new oven mitts...so what would any normal person do? Make their own! : ) haha.

Again, Dixie needed a new leash...so why spend $10 when I can make one for $3!


Ooh, this is one of my favorites. I found this brass butterfly napkin holder at the thrift store for a dollar. Matt did the make-over for me by spray painting it pink. It's a great addition to my craft room and makes me quite happy when I look at it.

Joanie, Jean's mom, painted this piggy bank for Sydney's 2nd birthday. It is so cute and Sydney loves it too. We put the coins in and take them out - over and over again!

In Sydney news, it's been quite exciting. She has started praying for us at dinner. It goes something like this:

"Dear God, thank you for Sydney, mommy, and daddy. In Jesus name. Amen."

Very cute and to the point. I love it. Also, Jen bought some Leapfrog DVDs (here and here) for her birthday. She has been watching them and now knows what every letter says. For example, she'll say "What does M say?" then replies "Mmm" and so forth. She'll be reading before we know it - Whew, that's scary! Have a good day everyone.

At the Lake

So we met our friends, Lauren & Jason, at their parents lakehouse. It was so much fun. Lauren is one of my best friends from college, so it's always good to hang out with her. Her parents, Susan & Joey, are fanastic people also. (Hi Susan!) : )

We just went for the day. Here is Matt and Syd swimming.

Matt's jumping in.

Sydney's turn!

Trying to touch and hold the minnows.

They even made cupcakes! Do they know us or what!?

Hanging out on the boat.

Jason tubing.

Matt tubing.

The family tubing.

Syd did good on the tube - and no we didn't go real fast! I can't believe I didn't get any pictures with Lauren or her parents! What kind of blogger am I? I guess we'll just have to do it again.

Next post (coming tomorrow): Crafts! : )

Crafts and Baking

That's what I do...besides taking care of Sydney (of course)! heehee!

Here is my solution for all of Sydney's puzzles. I get sick of the puzzle pieces going everywhere so I made each puzzle a zippered bag. They are made of mesh so she can see each puzzle and everything fits right inside. It works out very well and Sydney has no problems with it.

My mother-in-law, Karen, let me borrowed her sewing serger. I've been wanting to try one for a long time and "Holy Smokes." I'm in love with it! It makes everything look so professional. I used it to make the bags above - it's so fast and makes everything perfect. What's not to love about that?

Onto baking, here is some Mexican Wedding Cookies from this book by one of my favorite baking authors. Her books are great and the pictures are just fabulous to look at.

Yummy cookies covered in powdered sugar and made with pecans from Pa's trees!